


Familiar Magic

by aneighthdomain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (Rey's parents), AED use, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Benji Kitty is a big boy, Black Cats, Cat/Human Hybrids, Catboy!Kylo, Cats, Disney hasn't really aged well in some movies, Domestic Fluff, Emergency Medical Technicians, F/M, Fire/Explosion due to drugs, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Fluffy Ending, Hospitalization, Hospitals, I swear this is not propaganda, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, It just kinda worked out that way, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Limbo, Magic, Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Referenced racism, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Rey is a Palpatine (Star Wars), Rey is restrained, Rose is in the ICU, Smut, Smutty, Tails, Temporary Character Death, Waiting Rooms, attempted hit-and-run of a cat, cat adoption education, cat facts, hospital food, mild violence, once more TEMPORARY character death, some cat facts mentioned are sad, sureal conversations with naked men, vet check-up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aneighthdomain/pseuds/aneighthdomain
Summary: Rey has seen the black cat around campus for a while and is forever trying to encourage him to come to her so she can find him a furever home.  She had not anticipated thatshewould be his furever home, or that she would wake up with him in her bed, fully human and fully naked.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 207
Kudos: 450
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp, Reylo Readers & Writers - The Spooktacular Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 24 of #reylospooktacular prompt Black Cats~!
> 
> Soooo...this was supposed to be a smutty one-shot. Hello, I'm Flame and I apparently can't write smutty one-shots anymore. This ended up much longer than I had anticipated, and longer than anything else I've written to this point, but it was a lot of fun.
> 
> Tags will have to be updated as I go, mostly because I want to make sure I tag everything and I can't think twelve chapters into the future when I'm still editing them. That being said this actually is complete and I just need to edit them and have my beta (Yes~! I have one this time around~!) go over them. I am posting the first two chapters tonight, but after this it will be a 5 to 7 day update schedule barring my mental health.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has encouraged this and thanks to Reylo Readers & Writers for being such a wonderful and safe space to write in.
> 
> I hope you enjoy~!

  
  
  


Rey set the last decoration on the table and surveyed her work. The batting stretched perfectly across the table with its little plastic spiders. The black and orange cats and pumpkins confetti was scattered artfully over the edges where the batting didn't cover. The candy bucket was front and center right next to the photo of Sylvester the vampire kitty. There were other pictures of adoptable black cats, but it was like Sylvester was made to be a Halloween kitty. The only other cat she could think of who would be perfect was the scarred black tom she'd seen around campus and had started calling Ben. She hadn't been able to catch him yet, but when she did, she was going to make sure he got the  _ best _ furever home. 

Rey turned at the sound of shoes on the sidewalk and metal squeaking just inside for Rose to slide up next to her. "Found the trap!" she gasped. "Ended up in Finn's car instead of mine."

Rey smiled at her friend. "How far did you run? How did you not break your neck? That thing is like half of you."

Rose snickered. "I'm just that talented". She set the cat trap down on the second table next to the  _ What is TNR?  _ sign. 

Rey snorted as she reached back into the storage tub for the little box of individually wrapped kitty treats, which she set next to the candy bowl, and then, because puppies deserved treats too, a little bucket of milkbones. "Yes, you have many talents," Rey started, just as Rose started to teether off the curb for some reason that Rey had missed, and grabbed for her. "I don't think impeccable balance is one of them" 

Rose giggled a little as Rey pulled her back on the grass. "Okay, fair. Thanks. Biffing it at a college Halloween festival is not exactly on my list of things to do."

Rey snickered. "Let's finish getting ready."

It wasn't much longer after that the two women were fielding questions about the Witchy Cats Rescue. 

"We would love to help all animals, but we focus specifically on black cats who are much more likely to be overlooked for adoption," Rose tells an elderly gentleman. 

"No, there's never been any conclusive proof that black cats get adopted out more for Halloween pranks, in fact black cats may remain in a shelter two to three times longer than other cats," Rey tells a young college student. 

"Actually, the black death plague was spread by human to human contact through fleas and lice, so really cats didn't really change the severity of the plague."

"Unfortunately, because black cats are so overlooked, they have a higher risk of being euthanized, which is why we work directly with a no kill shelter."

"Oh no, we just thought with black cats being associated with magic spells and witches' familiars and all that it was a cute name. No, we adopt out to anyone, not just witches."

"If you go toward the library and down the stairs, the bathroom is on the right of the staircase."

"I'm not sure where that booth is, but let's take a look at your map. So do you have any fur babies at home?" 

"Absolutely, at our website you'll see pictures of all our adoptable cats right now, like little Sylvester over there by the treats. Would you like to take some treats home? Yes, our website is on the package."

And on and on it went. It was a very long, but with seven sets of adoption papers signed with their deposits, very rewarding ten hours. Normally, Rey didn't like adopting out without the families meeting the kitty first, but something in her gut just told her that these families were dedicated.

Just as her gut was screaming at her to rescue Rose from this...Freddy Kruger looking dude. Never in her life would she ever condemn someone for the way they looked, but she sure as fuck would condemn them for creeper behavior. And this guy definitely looked like a nightmare on Elm Street. 

Rey stepped between her friend and the creeper as he leaned in close to Rose. "Sorry sir, but the festival is over now, and we need to pack up."

The man sneered down at her, his facial scar twisting his face into something far more menacing. "But I was inquiring about adopting an animal."

Something slammed into the back of Rey's brain and her heart clenched tightly at the thought of this man having any control over any thing's life. "That's unfortunate. We will not be adopting out to you. Ever."

The man's pale face grew red. "Do you have any idea who you're — " 

The threat growing in his beady eyes only solidified how this man was never getting a cat from their rescue, and in no way could she back down from him in this. "I give literally no fucks who I'm dealing with. We are a nonprofit, and we make all final decisions on whether or not an adoption happens. Given how you are treating my friend, neither of us is going to approve an adoption for you. Now please leave before I call campus security."

The man stared hard at her, and Rey refused to look away. Her gut told her that nothing in her entire life would ever matter as much as not turning away from this man. So she didn't. She just kept holding out and holding out until finally the man sniffed. 

He didn't even bother to say anything for himself, simply glared at her as if she'd thwarted his fiendish plans. Which she probably actually did. But it just seemed a little...more than just not getting a girl into bed. It really did seem just plain...sinister. As the man disappeared around the corner, Rey turned back to Rose. 

The woman had the strangest expression on her face, as if she was completely entranced by something. "Rose?" She didn't respond. Rey gave her a gentle shake. "Rose?" 

Rose's eyes fluttered for a moment before she finally looked at Rey. She blinked a couple more times. "What?" 

Rey tilted her head. "You spaced off for a minute. Did that guy scare you that much?" 

Rose's brows furrowed. "What guy?" 

It was Rey's turn to blink. "What guy? The Freddy Krueger looking guy, what guy do you think I mean?" 

Rose peered at her like she had two heads. "I didn't see a Freddy Krueger looking guy much less get scared of him."

Rey stared at her, completely nonplussed. "Rose, he was...he was right in front of you. Talking to you."

Rose took Rey's hand. "Rey, no one was talking to me. Are you alright? Do you need something to eat?" 

Rey rolled her eyes. "You already know the answer to that. It's always yes. But there was a guy talking to you."

Rose twisted to the side, looking around her. "Maybe he was talking to someone next to me you didn't see?" 

Rey gripped Rose's hand back. "Rose, sweetie, I love you. Few people could hide behind you."

Rose gave a gasp that was somewhere between indignation and laughter before lightly smacking her on the arm. Rey snickered as she pulled her arm away from the playful blow. 

"Well, let's clean up," Rey said, distracted for the moment from the Freddie Krueger guy, but Rose grabbed her arm. 

"Rey, it's your kitty," she hissed. 

Rey reminded herself not to whirl and risk frightening the little kitty. Well,  _ little _ kitty being relative. He was humongous for a cat. Rey turned slowly, smiling. 

"Hey, buddy," she cooed, holding a hand out to Rose who was already putting an open bag of treats in it. Rey shook a few into her hand as she knelt down and to hold them out to him. 

He was such a pretty boy. He'd been wandering around campus for months now and had only come as close as her fingertips before running away. His black fur was lush and sleek and well groomed. The only thing that marred his appearance was the thin line of scarring down his right eye. She couldn't tell if it went farther because of how dark his fur was, but it just broke her heart to see injured animals, even if they were thriving. 

The cat stared at her, meandering his way toward her with glances this way and that to see that things were safe. He had been halfway through the service street that bisected the mall when Rose spotted him and he was just out of arm's reach now, his little nose twitched, whiskers moving forward as he sniffed at her hand. She wanted to push her hand further toward him, but that only ever made him dash away, so she waited patiently. 

Finally he tapped her longest finger tip with his nose and tensed and he was clearly getting ready to bolt. Rey was getting ready to sigh and hope for next time. The car that aimed for them was almost on them when the headlights distracted the girl and cat as Rose screamed Rey's name. 

The cat froze, but Rey's gut screamed at her. She reached forward and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw herself backward. Being so large, the cat was heavy as fuck. It threw off her balance and both she and the cat rolled and slammed against the ground. The poor cat’s issue was compounded as he swung around by his scruff in her hand. 

"Mother fucker!" Rose screamed as the car sped away, the thunk of milkbones hitting the body lost in the thunder of the muffler. 

Once Rey figured out which way was up, she righted herself and pulled the cat into her arms. The poor thing was shaking and crying softly, his fear making his little heart beat like a hummingbird's wing. 

"Oh, baby," she whispered, cuddling him to her chest. "It's okay, buddy. I've got you. You're okay."

The cat tucked himself into her chest, his head under her chin, his puffed up tail swinging around wildly. When she got a look at his eyes to look for damage on his face, his pupils were completely blown. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry," she whispered, rocking him. 

"God, Rey, are you alright? Is kitty?" 

Rey nodded shakily, realizing her own heart was pounding. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I think he is, too. Just scared."

"Hold on, let me get the carrier for you, and you can drive him over to Dr. Amilyn’s house. She's on call, I think. I'll text her when you head over." Rose’s voice faded as she went back to their table where a crowd of lingerers was gathering. 

Rey pulled her arms back a little to look down at the cat in her arms. Their eyes met when he looked back up at her, and his eyes stunned her. From a distance they'd always looked like an amber color, which was unusual enough in cats, but now that she could look into them, they were so dynamic. They were amber, all right, but they had swirls of green and gold mixed in that was so unique. She'd never seen anything like it. 

She didn't get to see them for long because the cat caught his claws in her shirt and pulled himself back against her, this time wrapping his arms around her neck while he kept his head tucked under her chin. She smiled, turning her head so her check rested against his neck. "I got you, buddy." Her smile grew when she felt him hesitantly purr. She sighed as the deep rumble rolled into her chest from him. "I wonder what your name is. Should I keep calling you Ben? Maybe Benji. Do you like Benji? Or Benny boy?" 

She was babbling, but it didn't matter. He couldn't understand the words she said, but he'd react to the sound of her voice and the releasing of tension from her body and relax himself. 

"Rey," Rose said quietly to keep from startling either of them. "The carrier isn't big enough for him."

Rey looked over her shoulder at the cloth carrier they'd brought just in case they'd found a stray, but it was sized for a medium cat, not the bulk of this cat. Rey sighed. "It's okay. I'll just carry him. He doesn't seem to want to let me go, anyway."

Rose nodded and set the carrier down, then used both hands to pass the strap of her purse over Rey's head and press her car keys into her hand. "I've already called Dr. Amilyn, so she's waiting for you. I'll clean up here and take everything back to the shelter. Call me tonight to let me know how things are."

Nodding, Rey let Rose help her up and headed toward her car. By the time she got to the garage, the cat had settled into a confident purr and was snuggled into her with no sign of wanting to leave her. In fact, it was a little difficult to get him to let go when she unlocked her car and tried to let him in. 

Rey pulled at his paws, trying to get his claws detangled from her clothing. "Benji, baby, let me go, sweetie. I need to get us in the car and I can't do that with you attached to me."

Miraculously, the cat seemed to understand and let go immediately, plopping down on the seat, then walking over to the passenger side to let her get in. As soon as she settled though, with her seat belt on and the car in reverse, the cat crawled back into her lap. 

"You know it's gonna be difficult to drive like this, right?" 

The cat looked up at her, completely unimpressed. So Rey sighed and pulled out of the space and headed down the road, hoping she didn't get into an accident that would involve airbag projected kitty guts all over her. 

Dr. Amilyn was waiting on her front porch in her house slippers when Rey arrived. The vet smiled at her as she climbed the steps with the cat. "Oh, he's such a big boy, isn't he?" 

Rey chuckled between huffs as she stepped onto the porch. "You aren't kidding. He's got to be at least twenty-five pounds."

Dr. Amilyn smiled and reached for him, but the cat looked dubious and laid his ears back while he sank deeper against her chest. 

"Benji, stop," she mumbled. "This is Dr. Amilyn. She's going to make sure you're okay."

The cat took a deep breath and let it out dramatically, allowing himself to be handed over. Dr. Amilyn grunted as she took his full weight, but smiled at Rey before leading the way inside. "He so well behaved. Is Benji his name?" 

Rey shrugged as she followed. "I don't know. It's what I've been calling him. It started as Ben, but ended up Benji."

“He’s a stray, you think?” the doctor asked as she set him down on the cat scale. 

Rey shrugged again. "He seems too well behaved to be a stray, doesn't he? He's certainly not feral. He's just skittish, but since saving him that asshole, he basically does everything I tell him."

“Interesting.” Dr. Amalyn put her stethoscope against his chest and listened. Then turned him around so she could look in his eyes, ears, mouth, the usual visual assessment. "Fully intact," she said when she turned him around to get his temperature. Which he was not in anyway impressed with. But Rey petted his head and he kept it to a growl. "Normal temperature." she ran her hand over his back and along his tail. "Seems like he's in great shape. Even that scar on his face healed just fine whenever he was injured and he can still see out of the eye fine. Your boy is fine for now."

She waited for Rey to pick the cat up before she led them out of her office. "I'd just say bring him in on Monday to get his shots and see about getting him neutered."

Benji laid his ears back and hissed at Dr. Amilyn, and both women blinked in astonishment. Did he understand what the doctor had said? Rey pursed her lips. "Yeah...at least to get the shots," she said. "That was weird, right?" 

Amilyn also pursed her lips. "Maybe. Or maybe he got a whiff of another animal on me. Should be fine, though. I'll see you on Monday?" she asked as she led Rey back to the front door.

Rey nodded. "Absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Amilyn."

The vet nodded. "My pleasure. Have a good night."

Rey waved at her from under Benji's butt and headed back down the stairs. "Well, buddy," she said as they repeated their car routine. "Looks like you get to come home with me tonight."

Benji purred loud enough to be heard over the engine and leaned into her. Rey smiled down at him, then headed off to her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two, yey~! I mostly wanted to get this posted as well tonight, because I've been teasing Catboy!Kylo since like...forever, and there's no catboy in the first chapter. XD Just kind worked out that way. Anyways, now we get to meet "Benji!" Please enjoy~! Thanks again to my sweetheart of a beta, and once she tells me if she wants to be tagged, I will tag her. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Rey considered herself to be in decent shape for the most part, but walking from her parking lot, to her building and up two flights of stairs with a twenty-five-pound cat in her arms was exhausting. Rey groaned when she got to her door and had to fumble through her keyring blindly to get to the apartment door key and get it open. 

“You're lucky I’m not fostering anyone right now, Benji. BeeBee got adopted last week, so you have the entire house to yourself.” The cat looked up at her with his amber eyes and meowed plaintively until she opened the door and let him down inside.

Ben was a confident cat, going straight into the middle of the space with his tail up. He looked over his shoulder at her from the center of the living room and meowed at her again. Rey tilted her head and smiled at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re very talkative, sir. I wish you could actually speak to me in human. Then you could tell me all your kitty secrets.”

Ben tilted his head, staring at her. Rey sighed and headed for the kitchen. “Let’s get you some food, huh?”

She smiled at the patter of his little paws as he chased after her. Rey pulled down the dry food and a can of wet food from the cabinet, along with a bowl and a small plate. It didn’t take long for her to get the dry food in the bowl and the wet food dished out. She was about to set both on the floor for him, until she realized he was at her elbow, sniffing over her arm at the food.

“Excuse me, sir. I don’t recall saying you could get up on my counter.” Ben rolled his eyes toward her before he sniffed at her face and licked her nose. Rey sighed and rolled her eyes back at him. “Oh fine.” She set the bowl and plate down in front of him.

Ben sniffed at the bowl first and looked up at her, clearly unimpressed. Rey shrugged. “That’s normal kitty food, my friend. It's filler for the wet food.” Ben moved his nose to the plate with the wet food and seemed much more interested in that and in another moment he was scarfing it down like he hadn’t seen food in a month. Rey sighed, smiling as she watched him, reaching out to pet him. He made a little growling noise, but otherwise ignored her. Rey chuckled and then headed to the foster room to get a bed ready for him.

She was just spritzing down the largest of her cat beds when he wandered in, meowing at her. “Almost,” she said to him, “I’m getting your bed ready now. I won’t close the door so you can wander all over, and the catbox is there in the corner.” She laid the bed down and picked him up — _ oh shit, that’s right, twenty-five pounds _ — and took him over to the litter box. “See, all clean for you.”

Ben sniffed at it then looked back up at her, and if a cat could raise a brow, she would swear that this cat just did it. “What? This is where you go to the bathroom. I know you are housebroken because you are entirely too well trained to be feral. So, you got to the bathroom here.”

Rey set him down in the box. Ben looked up at her as if he was completely offended and hopped out, shaking the litter off his paws. “Hey, don’t waste that, it’s expensive!”

Ben pranced away out of the room. Rey sighed and moved to sweep up the litter before leaving the room in search of him. She searched all over the apartment until she got to her bedroom and found him sitting primly on her duvet, grooming his paw.

“Oh, no, sir,” she said, turned on the bedside lamp and reached for him. “No sir, no cats in the bed. This is a cat-free zone. I foster too many cats to let you all soak your scents into my bed and get all territorial.”

Ben dodged her hands and went to the far end of the bed. He laid his ears back and twitched his tail but he did not bite or swat or hiss at her. Rey sighed. “Benji, seriously. You can’t be in here.” Again, the cat seemed to give the impression that he had facial expressions and the one he had now was a cross between unimpressed and snobbish. As if that is  _ other _ cats that aren’t allowed in her bed.  _ He _ was special and she might as well accept that he was going to be sleeping here tonight.

Rey narrowed her eyes at him, her hands on her hips. “Benji....”

Ben went back to grooming his paw. Rey sighed. Well, she would be washing linens in a couple of days, anyway. It wouldn’t do any harm for a couple of nights. “Alright. Fine. Just don’t bug me with the song of your people in the middle of the night.” Ben sneezed.

Rey sighed but smiled and got herself ready for bed.

*******

There was a soft ambient light in the room as she opened her eyes. A bleary-eyed look at the clock told her that it was only just six a.m. She shouldn’t be awake yet. Her first class wasn’t until ten for this very reason, so that she didn’t have to get up at the ass crack of dawn. She took a deep breath and shifted to get a little more comfortable. It was only just at this moment that Rey realized that she was not alone in her bed. That wasn’t exactly wrong. She knew she’d gone to bed with a cat. What she had not gone to bed with was a man. There should not be a man’s hand lying over her stomach.

Rey froze and tried to assess the situation. There was a man’s arm wrapped over her side so that his  _ very _ large hand rested on her belly. There was a long hard body against her back. A man’s legs tangled with hers. A man’s hot breath that drew in long, deep puffs against her neck.  _ What...the fuck? _

Rey didn’t think, she just scrambled out of bed, her heart thudding against her sternum and her blood thundering in her ears as the adrenaline rushed through her system. She snatched up the feathered cat toy she’d left by her bed after playing with Ben last night. It wasn’t sturdy, but it had a whip-like quality to it if she swung it through the air hard enough. Which is what she did the moment she had a good grip on it. She brought it over her head and brought it down harder than she’d ever done in her life on the dark-haired man in her bed. She was sure she was going to strike him until he contorted and rolled away, just as the toy would have made contact.

All she could see of him was pale skin and dark hair, and there was enough pale skin to tell her that the man in her bed was  _ naked _ . Rey backed herself into the corner and held the toy out in front of her. “What are you doing in my house?!” she shouted. “I’m calling the cops!” She edged her way to her nightstand where her phone was plugged into the charger.

“Rey, that won’t be necessary.”

Two things happened at once, both of which confused her mightily. First was the fact that a strange naked man in her bed knew her name. There was no one who should check off those attributes who knew her name. The second thing was her reaction to the warm, deep chocolate-smooth voice that said her name in a tone that one might call  _ sinful. _

“It’s completely necessary, cockwaffle,” she muttered, tugging at her phone to get it unplugged. That seemed to be her undoing because she’d taken her attention off the man and in that instant she looked at her phone, he was on her.

First, he took the cat toy away from her, just yanking it right out of her hand and yeeting it across the room. He batted her hand away from her phone and then pushed her face first into her bed. Without hesitation, before she could get on her hands and knees to crawl to the other side of the bed and run out of her apartment to get help, he straddled her hips and sat on her ass. His hands came down on her upper arms to hold them down, and his long legs hooked his feet around her knees so she was completely pinned down.

“Rey, please listen to me.”

Rey shook her head and sucked in a huge breath, only to have the man cup her chin and cover her mouth so she couldn’t open it to scream.

“Really, please listen. I’m Ben. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Oh god, the cat! “What did you do with my cat?!” she asked, only it came out muffled, and completely unintelligible.

Except he answered anyway.

“I  _ am _ your cat. I’m the black cat you rescued from old scar face yesterday.”

That made her stop struggling like nothing else could for a moment. What kind of sick fuck...? Had this man followed her? How long had he been following her? What if he  _ was _ the Freddy Krueger dude?!

“You are clearly not a cat!” she shot back, still muffled.

“Not at the moment, no. But you  _ did _ wish for me to be human...or near enough, last night. So here we are.”

How was he answering her? How did he know what she was saying? She couldn’t understand what she was saying and she was saying it! Wait, did he say she wished for him to be human?

“What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“Last night, you said you ‘wish I could talk to you in human so I could tell you all of my kitty secrets.’ So here I am. Human. Ish.”

“What do you mean, ‘human-ish,’ and how are you understanding me with your hand clamped over my jaw?”

“Well, clearly I said human-ish because I’m not human. And I can understand you even with your mouth closed because I’m your familiar. I can  _ hear _ what you're intending to say.”

Rey would decide later that that was the moment the world stopped making sense and she no longer had the wherewithal to fight this man who was clearly insane and going to murder her. But now that she thought about it...she had said those exact words to Benji last night. Oh god, was this man living in her vents? Like in those urban legends?

“Oh, God,” she moaned.

The man chuckled, his deep voice doing things to her as his laughter shook him a little and made her shake a little, too. “I am not. But thank you for the compliment.”

  
  
  
  


Rey took a deep calming breath and thought rationally. At this moment, all this man had done was take her escape, weapon, and phone away from her. Yes, he was sitting on top of her, but he wasn’t doing much else. And he was talking calmly to her. She would say rationally but nothing that’s come out of his mouth was rational, but he was clearly not agitated. And strangely, it forced her to calm and think instead of reacting. 

If the strange naked man wanted to kill or rape her, he wouldn’t be trying to calm her. Both those things were about a power struggle and again, while he was sitting on her, he wasn’t using it as a tactic to frighten her. It didn’t even really hurt, honestly. It was a little difficult to breathe because he was huge, but he wasn’t doing it on purpose. So. For the moment at least, maybe he didn’t really mean her any harm.

As she let her body fully relax, the man loosened his grip cautiously. “Do you think you can speak calmly with me if I let you up now?”

Rey nodded and his hand moved away from her mouth. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she crawled out from under him and off the bed. She turned to look at him once she had her back to the wall. He still sat on her bed, now with his legs crossed and he was running his hand through his hair.

“Can I turn on a light?” she asked cautiously. Maybe if she got a good look at him, when this was over she could give a good description to the police.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll do it.”

And Rey squeaked. Because he did turn on a light. Without moving. And it wasn’t her bedside lamp. No, it was a glowing ball of light that just hung in the air just above and to the left of his head. His very lovely head.

Rey pulled in on herself and slid down the wall to wrap her arms around her pajama covered legs. “I don’t understand what’s going on,” she said quietly.

The man tilted his head. “I imagine this must be a shock, though I’m not sure why. You should already know what a witchlight is.”

“What like a wil-o-the-wisp?”

The man shook his head. “No, that’s completely different. Those are fae spirits who like to cause mischief, even if that means dropping a mortal off a cliff.” He pointed up to the glowing ball. “This is a witchlight. Just a simple spell any witch or their familiar can cast to light in a place.”

“Witch. Like spells and brooms and shit. That kind of witch?”

The man tilted his head the other way. “I’ve never seen a witch fly on a broom, though I’ve seen the decorations. I particularly like the one where the witch is crashed into a tree.”

“Right,” she said. “So...who are you?”

The man leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and it was only just at that moment that her brain registered that this man was completely naked and she averted her eyes. “I told you who I was. I’m the black cat you brought home last night. You call me Ben.” He chuckled and it forced her to look at his face since it was such a nice sound and she could see his lips smirking. “In fact you call me Benji.”

Rey stared at him. “You are not my cat. There is no possible way you are my cat.”

The man tilted his head again, nodding up at the witchlight. “You see a witchlight, which you’ve never seen before and you tell me I can’t possibly be a cat?”

Rey shook her head. “It’s not physically possible. There is the law of conservation of mass. Benji is twenty-five pounds. You are significantly more than that.”

The man rubbed his chin with his hand. His very large hand. It was a nice hand. “You’re talking about science, right? Well, that makes sense in science, of course. But I’m talking about magic.”

Rey scoffed. “Magic?”

His eyes went up to the witchlight again.

“Fair. But still, I can’t believe you're my cat.”

The man shrugged. “That is a fair statement, mostly because you’re right, I’m not a cat. I’m a familiar. I just happen to be cat shaped when my witch prefers.”

“You’re not convincing me you’re my cat.”

The man sighed. “Very well.” From behind him there was a stirring of shadow. At least what she thought was shadow. No, just like the witchlight, she was caught completely off guard and flabbergasted because that shadow turned out the be...a tail?

“You have a tail?” she asked and she was almost sounding hysterical even to her ears.

The man nodded. “Yes, I have a tail.” He whipped it around--or did it whip itself?--and wrapped it around his forearm as if he was a little self-conscious about it. “That’s why human-ish.”

“H-how?”

The man shrugged. “Just works out that way. Do you believe now that I’m your cat?”

Rey shook her head. “I...I don’t know.” 

The man sighed. “Alright, how about this.” He lifted the forelock that had covered half his face in shadow and there across his right eye and down to his collarbone was a long scar. Rey swallowed and let go of her legs to move forward a bit.

“I’d always wondered how far it went.” She looked up at him. Between the information only she and Dr. Amilyn knew, and the tail and scar, Rey had to believe that this  _ was _ her cat. “Okay. So you're my cat.” She paused. “Is Ben your real name?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s Kylo. But I like Ben.” He smiled that smirky smile. “I like Benji a lot. I’d really like it if you kept calling me that.” And here he lowered his eyes in the smoothest smolder Rey had ever seen. “Maybe just Benji in private.”

Rey, honest to God, gulped. That was...that was flirting wasn’t it? But like...cat...boy flirting? Was that even legal? Was there legality with this?!

“Okay, Ben. My cat. Who is now ‘human-ish.’ Who is also naked. What do I do with you?”

Ben tilted his head. “What do you want to do with me?”

_ I mean if we’re thinking about it.... _

“We are thinking about it.”

Rey’s eyes widened. “You can read my mind, can’t you!?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah. Because I’m your familiar, so I have to be attuned to everything about you, including your thoughts.”

“Okay, but can you not?” She asked. “There’s a lot that goes on up here,” she tapped her temple, “That no other living soul needs to see, ever.”

Ben blinked at her for a moment. “But then how can I anticipate your needs?”

“If I need anything from you, I’ll just ask. It’s pretty simple.”

Ben shook his head. “That’s highly irregular for a witch-familiar bond.”

“Okay, yeah,” Rey said, slowly crossing her legs. “You keep saying you're my familiar. Now I know what that is in movies, but are we talking about the same thing right now? Like you are a magical spirit that helps witches out?” Then she paused as his other words caught up to her brain. “Wait, I’m not a witch though.”

Ben scratched at his chin with his knuckles. “Well, actually, because of your grandfather, you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~! I do hope you enjoyed~! Please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudos are beautiful, comments are radiant and MOAR is simply ravishing~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey learns a little more about her human-ish cat and goes over a little about her past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey, chapter three~! Mind the tags, they've been updated for CW of conversations of drug abuse and minor (Rey's parents) character death.
> 
> Please enjoy~! Douzo~!

Rey stared at the naked man ( familiar? )  on her bed. “I don’t have a grandfather,” she drawled.

The corner of his mouth tipped up, and that was not hot in any way because Ben was not human. Kinda. “You must know that you have a grandfather. Or had one. You didn’t spring forth from the earth fully formed.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “No, of course not. Biologically, yes, I clearly had a grandfather and a father, presumably. But I’m an orphan.”

Ben nodded. “Yes, I imagine you are. Sheev never cared about his descendants, just so long as they had power he could steal from them. Near as I could ever tell, your father had no magical ability at all. Likely why he turned to chemical enhancements.”

“Meth. He was a meth addict. Along with my mother.”

Ben blinked once, slowly. “I take it I have said something upsetting?”

Rey turned her gaze away and shrugged. “Well, when they find you in the remains of a meth lab explosion, ‘chemical enhancements’ just doesn’t express the severity of the situation.”

Ben’s brows furrowed. “An explosion? You survived an explosion?”

Rey shrugged again, once more pulling her legs up so she could wrap her arms around them and rest her temple on her knees. “They called it a miracle. I was only three and couldn’t tell them much more than that everything was on fire and I just prayed that I didn’t burn.”

“You prayed,” he said, not questioned. “You asked to not be burned over and over again and you weren't?”

Rey turned back to look at him, her eyes drawn to the way his tail twitched in agitation. “Yeah.”

“I suspect that would have been your first spell under duress.”

Rey moved her gaze to his amber eyes. “I don’t think I catch your meaning.”

Ben gave a little sigh. “Rey, how else do you think you survived an explosion? How does a child that age survive the fire and the blast wave in what I assume was a small room? Just from wishing not to be hurt?”

Rey nibbled on her lower lip. “They found me in a cabinet....”

Ben gave her a  _ look _ that was very similar to the cat version of his very unimpressed look. “Rey. You are a logical reasoning adult. Please don’t tell me it was just a coincidence. You’re talking to a man with a tail right now.”

Okay, he had a point. “I don’t know, okay. It was a long time ago, and I barely remember it. I only remember the fire. I don’t even remember what my parents looked like. As far as I’ve ever known, witches aren’t real. Beyond those who practice witchcraft.”

“You’re telling me you know there are individuals that practice witchcraft, but you don’t believe in magic?”

“Well, no. It’s all positive thinking and law of attraction,” she said, getting a little defensive.

Ben nodded. “I’ll accept that, though it is  _ extremely _ generalized and almost completely inaccurate. Some witchcraft is built with the mind, yes. But that doesn’t make magic any less real or that kind of magic invalid.”

Rey gave him her own look. Ben just pointed to his tail and Rey sighed. “Alright, let’s say I accept magic is real. There have been some crazy things happening in the world that can’t be explained otherwise,” she gestured at him. “But that doesn’t make me a witch, does it?”

Ben shrugged. “Anyone can be a witch, but some witches are born with innate abilities. It isn’t any more special than any other witch, they just have an aptitude or a talent if you will.” Ben started running his fingers through his hair again. “Sheev was such a witch. He was highly disappointed when your father turned out not to have any magical ability, and your father wasn’t willing to put in the work to learn magic properly.”

Rey took a deep breath. “How do you know these people are related to me, and how do you know so much about them?”

Ben shrugged. “I’m a familiar. I’ve been bound to your family for centuries. I pass from one witch to the next until I’m released.”

“What? That’s awful!”

Ben shrugged again. “It is what it is. It’s the nature of what I am to be used by witches. That’s just how things are.”

“Well, if I’m a witch, how do I free you?”

Ben blinked at her. “I’m not a gene. You can’t just ‘free’ me. I’m bound much deeper than that. And you are a witch.” He furrowed his brow now. “And why would you want to release me?”

Rey shook her head, not understanding. “Why wouldn’t I? No one deserves to be in servitude without some kind of choice in if they do it or not.”

Now Ben was shaking his head. “That’s not how it works. Familiars are always bound to a witch.”

Rey sighed. “Ben, you know that I run a cat rescue, right?” He nodded. “You know that means I don’t keep cats?”

Ben shrugged. “I have to admit, I don’t know how that sort of thing works.”

“You remember that trap we had to that event?”

Ben looked at her warily. “Yes. It looked like a torture chamber.”

Rey smiled a little. “It’s not. It's just a cage. It’s a little scary for kitties, but it doesn’t hurt them. But the point of it is that we catch feral cats, neuter them, and  _ release _ them again. It’s called TNR, trap, neuter, release.”

Ben stretched his legs out and crossed them tightly. “I’m going to have to insist that that second part does not happen to me, please. I’m certain I made my displeasure clear before.”

Rey turned her head and snickered. “Yeah. That was pretty clear, which I thought was strange until there was a naked man with a tail in my bed. Now, I’m not sure what else is going to surprise me.”

“All the same, I demand a promise.”

Rey turned and looked at him. “Wha—of course, I promise! I assume that as a reasoning, thinking being you’re not going to go out and get a bunch of girl cats pregnant. That’s the only reason we neuter and spay cats at all. To keep them healthier and keep the population down.”

Ben relaxed a minutia. “Alight. I accept your promise. Thank you. It’s rare for a witch to promise a familiar anything.”

Rey shrugged. “It’s only decent.”

“Sheev wasn’t decent.”

Rey pursed her lips. “Well, neither was my father, so I’ll thank you not to compare me to them.”

Ben nodded, then pulled his legs back to cross them in a lotus style. “Very well. But you are the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine, and despite your father’s lack of magical ability, you are quite strong in your ability.”

Rey shook her head. “I’m still not sure I can believe that.”

“Why not? You just told me that you, a three-year-old child, survived a blast that should have killed you, then again survived the ensuing fire. At three. That’s unheard of.”

“Not unheard of,” she said, pulling a little lock of her hair over her shoulder to fiddle with it. “I looked it up once. There are lots of things that children survive.”

Ben raised a brow. “Please be reasonable.”

Rey sighed. “Fine. Weird shit has happened to me all of my life that I can’t explain and so I mostly just ignore it.”

Ben’s lips curved into a slow smile. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

Rey sighed. “Things like knowing not to associate with certain people for no other reason than to feel off about them? Like there was a serial rapist a few years ago that I crossed paths with and was able to identify later. Knowing not to go into a gas station and then having it robbed right in front of me. Again, being able to point them out to cops.” She shrugged. “I also have a lot of luck at casinos. So much so I stopped going because the taxes were ridiculous. Though, most of that money did pay for the startup of the rescue.”

Ben nodded. “And I feel that perhaps you have a special relationship with animals?”

Rey nodded. “Especially cats, but all animals. It’s fun to see the shocked look on people’s faces when they say that their animals don’t like anyone and then have the animal run in and curl up in my lap.”

Ben smiled at that and nodded at her to continue. 

“I am also very good with plants. I can make anything grow. I think there’s been a time or two that I’ve literally brought a plant back to life. Is that possible?”

Ben shrugged. “Depends. I’ve heard of it, though. Plants are less complicated than other living things. They can be encouraged.”

Rey gave him a long look before speaking again. “This is all really real, isn’t it? All of it. The magic, you, and everything.”

Ben nodded. “Yes, Rey, it is. There are many things in ‘heaven and earth than are dreamt of in men’s philosophy.’”

Rey smirked. “I think the word is ‘your.’”

Ben shrugged. “I appropriated it because the statement was incomplete.”

Rey sighed, looking out the window and realizing the sun was up fully now. “So...I have classes today,” she started. “I should probably get ready for that.”

Ben tilted his head, closing his eyes slowly again. “Indeed?”

Rey nodded, pushing herself up the wall so she was standing. She averted her eyes when she realized she could see all of him now.  _ All _ of him. Other than the tail, he was as anatomical as any other man. “Yeah, so I need you to like, go out in the living room or something, so I can get ready.”

Ben blinked. “Why? You didn’t kick me out when you changed last night.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “You were a cat then, and I wasn’t expecting that you were going to turn into a person.” She paused. “Lord, it’s a biggest nightmare. That someone cognitive really was looking through a cat’s eyes.”

Ben lowered his eyes and there was that slow curling of his lips again. That smolder was back. “Yes, well, this cognitive did not mind in the least.”

Rey felt her entire body go up in flames. Or at least flushed. “That’s not comforting.”

Ben uncurled himself, crawling over the bed toward her. Her eyes were hyper-focused on that tail again, and how it swept around languidly. “Isn’t it though?” he asked, coming to his knees in front of her. “To know that someone, even someone not entirely human, finds you very attractive?”

Rey thought she must be on literal fire right now because this close she could see that not only was he anatomical, but he was in perfect working order. “Sure!” She squeaked. “Living room please!”

Ben chuckled and shook his head. “Very well.” He set a foot down on the floor and stood, and had no shame at all as he stalked out, his cock on proud display.

Rey closed the door behind him, covering her face with her hand. Oh, god, how was this going to work? She was going to have to find him clothing, or she was going to die of embarrassment. Though was it because he was naked in her house, or that she didn't  _ mind _ that he was naked in her house?

*******

By the time she was done with her shower and clothed in skinny jeans and a light sweater, she came out to the living room, to find him with his feet on her coffee table and flipping through her Netflix account. Thankfully, he had one of her couch pillows on his lap. “Where are all the Disney movies?” he asked.

Rey smirked. Because who would think that a non-human who talks like he’s from at least fifty years ago wanted to watch Disney movies.

“Disney has their own streaming service now. If you go back out to the primary screen, you can scroll down to the Disney plus app.” She watched him as he slowly maneuvered his way through the screens. Like someone who kind of knew what they were doing, but still had to look at the remote every time they needed to hit another button.

“What are you trying to watch?” Rey asked.

“Best damn movie ever, if I can find it. It’s hard sometimes.” He looked up at her and smiled. “You look nice.”

Rey had to look away because she couldn’t help the blush that burned in her cheeks. “Uh, yeah. Thanks. What’s the ‘best damn’ movie ever?” she asked to change the subject.

Ben went back to looking through the menus. “Let’s see...Halloween...here!”

He brought up the movie synopsis and Rey raised her brow. “Hocus Pocus?”

Ben looked back at her. “What you want I should watch Aristocats? While a cute movie for the most part, insanely racist. I think not. I’ll just have to suffer not singing along with  _ Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. _ ”

Rey stared at him, completely nonplussed. “You’re a magical being that watches Disney movies, but is woke enough not to be racist?”

Ben looked back over at her, blinking that slow blink that she was starting to see was common for him. “Just because I am shaped like a cat doesn’t mean I don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, Rey.” He sighed and pushed play on the TV. “I know a bit what servitude with no escape is like.”

Rey bit her lip. “If you told me how to release you....”

Ben shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t mind being bound to you. You have five streaming services and you’re unlikely to ask me to murder anyone or get murdered in your stead, so this is a pretty nice deal.”

Rey stared at him. “How are you this nonchalant?” she asked.

Ben shrugged again, smiling at her. “I’ve been around for a while.”

Rey shook her head slowly, still staring at him. “Okay. Well, I have to get to class.”

Ben nodded, already becoming engrossed in his movie. “Have a good day. Do be safe, if you can.”

Rey shook her head again and took up her backpack. “When I’m done with class, we need to get you clothes.”

Ben sighed as he looked back at her. If she hadn’t been convinced yet that this man was her cat Benji, that sigh would have done it. “Must we? They don’t make clothing for tails.”

Rey nodded as she made for the door. “We must. I have a sewing machine. We’ll figure it out.”

Ben huffed again. “Alright. Goodbye, Rey. Have a pleasant time in class.”

Rey smiled and looked at him over her shoulder. He was fully engrossed in the movie now and Rey couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that it was very, very nice for someone to tell her to have fun before she left home. No one had ever really done that before. Rey tucked her lips between her teeth and opened the door before she headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for following along~! As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudo are wonderful, comments are fantastic, and MOAR is always inspiring~!
> 
> Join me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey fixes clothes that are comfortable for Ben and then they kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening everyone, I have finally managed it! This chapter is going unbeta'd just because I really really wanted to get this out tonight and I didn't want to disturb my beta.
> 
> Fair warning, FLUFF APPROACHING!!! ♥️♥️♥️
> 
> Hopefully this is a fun chapter. I hope you enjoy it~!

“This is a very strange sewing machine,” Ben said dubiously as he looked over her discount store Singer. “It  _ looks _ like a sewing machine I’m familiar with, but this one is very...mmm, sterile. Very white.”

Rey nodded. “Yes, they come that way now. Classic Singers are extremely expensive. I got mine for twenty-five dollars and it works perfectly fine. Just gotta oil it up a little more often is all.”

Ben gave her a side eye. “Mhmm.”

“Listen, do you want me to make room for your tail or not?”

Ben narrowed his eyes at her. “Fine. But I’m going across the room in case that thing explodes.”

Rey rolled her eyes as he moved back to the sofa. “Okay, Boomer,” she muttered.

“Okay...Boomer?”

Crap, he must have excellent hearing, too. “Nothing,” she said, going through the seat of the slacks with her seam ripper. “Just a common phrase.”

“Your tone suggested it was an insult.”

Rey couldn't help smiling as she started opening up the seam. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

He made that huffing sound and Rey grinned to herself as she opened the seam about as wide as she needed for his tail and then grabbing the bias tape. “Just watch a movie.”

“Which one? I’ve watched quite a few today, but I am not familiar with newer movies. What’s good?”

Rey thought to herself as she settled the pants and bias tape under the presser foot of the sewing machine and dropped the needle into place. “They just added  _ The Princess Bride _ to Disney plus.”

“That is not a  _ new _ movie.  _ I've _ even seen that one.”

Rey pressed down on the pedal to run the fabric through while also covering her snicker. “Are you always this amiable?” she asked without really thinking about it. “Or am I just special.”

Ben didn’t answer right away, so she turned to look at him. He was staring at her with such intensity in his eyes that she felt like it rooted her to the spot. “You are very special, Rey. More than you know. I have never been content enough to joke with my witches. You are very,  _ very  _ special.”

Rey blinked at him and felt her flush creeping over her cheeks and down her neck. “Oh. I’m sorry things haven’t been this pleasant for you,” she mumbled. “I’m glad I can make things better for you.”

Ben smiled and moved the pillow in his lap so he could stand. Rey averted her eyes as he moved over to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in, pressing a light kiss to her temple. “You make it much better for me,” he whispered, then moved past her to get into the kitchen and get himself a glass of water.

Rey pressed her lips together, trying and failing to hide her smile or keep that flutter in her belly.  _ He’s not human, Rey. Calm down. _

“I may not be human,” she heard him hum from the kitchen. “But all parts of me are in perfect working order. Just in case you’re wondering.”

Rey groaned and stepped on the pedal again. He just had to go mention that, didn’t he. “Stop reading my mind, Ben,” she called back at him.

She heard his deep, resonant chuckle as she turned the clothing and readied for another pass. “I will if you call me Benji.”

Rey shook her head. “I refuse. You are definitely not a Benji. Benji is reserved for cute, adorable, sweet little kitties. Not flirty, inappropriate, naked men with tails.”

He was smirking when he came out of the kitchen with not one but two glasses of water and she had to avert her eyes again. He was just so okay with being naked. Ben moved over to her and set the glass down next to her elbow. Then, with his hand now free, he rested it on the back of her chair and leaned down and nuzzled his nose into her hair. “I assure you, I can be very sweet, when asked nicely.”

Rey shivered as he pulled away and went back to his place on the sofa. He was smirking as she watched him pull the pillow over his lap and pressed play on  _ The Princess Bride _ .

It took her about an hour to adjust each of the slacks she’d gotten him so he would have a place to put his tail when he wore them. Hopefully, she’d gotten the measurement right. That had not been awkward at all—insert sarcasm here—gawking at his perfect ass to figure out exactly where the opening would need to go for his tail. And his tail was just as soft in this form as the rest of his fur was in the other. And...it was...prehensile. It kept wrapping around her arm as she tried to not touch him with the measuring tape. And he didn’t even try to remove it. And Rey refused to go there in her mind. Especially if the man could read it. She hadn’t called him Benji, after all.

“Ben, I think they’re ready,” she called over at him. Ben turned and paused the movie while he gave her that same dubious look from before as she held them up to show him the slot in the seam.

“That doesn’t look like it's going to fit,” he said. 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Well, come over here and we can find out.”

Ben huffed, watching her for a moment before he blinked slowly. Then he was standing and walking to her. She handed the slacks to him and he slipped his legs in. Rey got up as he slid them up and gently helped him guide his tail through the slot. She did not think of other things she could slide into other slots.

When his tail was comfortably out and twitching, he zipped up and fastened the button. He stepped back and looked back and forth around his body to glance back at his tail.

“How does it feel,” she asked.

Ben looked down at himself. “Actually, not that bad. Not as nice as being nude, of course, but if I had to wear clothing, this is better than forcing my tail down the pant leg. But that still doesn’t hide my tail.”

Rey smiled and moved back to the bags of clothing she’d bought for him and pulled out a duster. “No worries. It’s cool enough now to wear coats and not look strange. She held it out for him to put his arms into. He shrugged it on and turned as he pushed his hands into the pockets.

Rey let her eyes rove over him because she’d already seen him naked, of course, but in clothing...particularly clothing she’d purchased for him. Just...goddamn. The slacks stretched tightly enough across his hips she could see the bulge of his cock. The low slung waistline displayed the sharp v of his hips so nicely. In the duster and shirtless, his pale, broad chest was in stark contrast, and fuck, this wasn’t good.

“How do I look?” he asked.

“You look like a model,” she whispered, licking her lips.

Ben’s eyes honed in on the movement and his eyes, that she just noticed were slit like a cat’s, dilated wide and his chest moved a little faster with his breathing.

“Come here,” he breathed, and Rey was not strong enough to disobey.

She stepped up to him and he pulled a hand out of his pocket and wrapped his arm around her waist. She placed her hands on his chest, willing herself not to run them over the plains and valleys of his musculature. Ben freed his other hand and brought it up to her jaw. He searched her eyes for a moment before he leaned in.

Rey’s eyes slid closed as his lips touched hers. And oh god, they were soft. They were plush and warm, and the pressure he used was just...divine. All of her blood rushed through her body, and even just this kiss caused a pooling of sensation at the apex of her thighs. It was stupid because it was just a kiss, but then he was pulling her flush against his body and she realized she wasn’t the only one being affected.

Ben licked at her lower lip and Rey parted her lips with a sigh and then he was in her mouth. Even that was an example of how inhuman he was, regardless of what he looked like. As his tongue swept through her mouth it was just a little bit rougher than any other tongue that had been in her mouth, but...it just felt so good.

“Ben,” she sighed, parting from the kiss for a much needed breath.

“What do you want, Rey?” he whispered back. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Rey grasped at the lapels of his duster and pulled him more tightly against her chest so that she could feel her breasts flattening against his hard chest. “Just kiss me,” she breathed. “Just kiss me.”

And he did. He turned with her and walked her back until he was pressing her into the wall of her dining room. This was even better than just standing in the middle of the room, making out like teenagers because she could feel his body pressed all along the length of hers. He even went so far to press a thigh between hers and his hip grounded right into her core. Rey gasped and moaned and then she was groaning when his hands were on her breasts.

“Fuck, your tits feel amazing” he said against her mouth.

Rey shuddered a little to hear him curse. It wasn’t something he’d done before and it just felt like silk against her skin as he said it and the movement of his hands on her. “Ben!” she whined, uncertain what she actually wanted.

His hands slid back down to her waist and his hands gripped her tightly enough that she thought maybe she might have bruises later. Ben ground his hips into her for just a moment longer before he forced his body away from hers. He placed his hand on the wall behind her on either side of her shoulders and he dropped his head.

“Sorry,” he said in a breathy voice. “I didn’t realize how you would affect me like this.”

Rey’s eyes fluttered open, her hands starting to fall from his chest. Ben pulled back and took her hands in his. “I normally keep things very platonic with my witches,” he said softly, bringing up one of her hands so he could press kisses to each of her fingertips. “I can’t do that with you. I’ve always been drawn to you since I found you.’

Rey pursed her lips. “I don’t really understand.”

“Rey, let’s go to bed. Will you let me explain to you in bed where I can wrap myself around you?”

Rey blinked, and now she was biting her lips between her teeth. “Do you want me?” she asked softly.

“More than anything,” he whispered back, hovering over her lips. “Come to bed?”

“Okay.”

Ben smiled softly at her and pulled away and she felt a little bereft of the feeling of his body against hers even if she was well out of her depth and so uncertain right now. He pulled the duster off his shoulders and laid it over the back of her chair, then took her hand and let her to the back of her apartment. It was shocking how this all was playing out for her. She stared at his tail that flicked back and forth as he walked, and how strange it was to see it coming out of his slacks. It was just so surreal.

Once in her bedroom Ben took her to her bed and sat her down gently, then started to unfasten his pants. She was biting her lip again and she wasn’t sure if it was for unease or anticipation. Ben looked over at her as he stripped them off. “I can’t lay comfortably with you with these on,” he explained. “You’ve done a remarkable job and it's the most comfortable I’ve ever been in trousers, but I’m a cat, right?”

Rey couldn’t help smiling a little. “Makes sense. Cat’s don’t like clothes.”

Ben smiled as he shimmed out of the slacks and let them drop to the floor where he stood. “We don’t, no.”

He moved to where she sat on the edge of the bed and knelt down in front of her. He lightly placed his hands on her knees, but didn’t part them as she expected. Just leaned up and tilted his chin so he could kiss her lips again.

“Couldn’t resist,” he said before he sat back. “Go ahead and lay down, sweetheart,” he murmured.

Rey pinched her lips together to hide just how pleased she was with the endearment, but her cheeks warmed anyway. She kicked off her slippers and crab walked back onto her bed so that she could lay back against her pillows. Ben crawled onto the bed and he... _ prowled _ toward her. It was the only way to describe it. Probably a cat thing. He encouraged her to roll to her side when he reached her, then laid himself behind her, wrapping an arm over her side so he could rest his hand against her belly. The exact position she’d woken up to this morning.

“Is this okay,” Ben asked in her ear, his breath ghosting over the shell of her ear.

Rey shivered and nodded, not really trusting her voice, but it didn’t matter because he would know either way just how turned on she was. All the same, it was still weird to be attracted to a man with a tail. A tail that she had had inappropriate unasked questions about all day.

He nuzzled his nose into her hair again, pressing a kiss to her neck. Then his whole body seemed to relax and he was quiet for a long time.

“Ben?” she prompted.

Ben nodded. “You know that I have existed for a long time,” he said. “For much of that I have been bound to the Palpatine family. It’s an old witch family that found its origins well before the colonization of America. In all of that time, I was essentially a slave. My function is to protect the witch when they are practicing dangerous magics and to provide another source of energy and power. I have always been used this way. You could say that I got used to it. There has never been a lapse in time when I was not passed immediately to the next head of family. Until your grandfather died.”

He paused as if waiting to see if she had any questions. She had a million but had no idea where to start. So instead she rubbed her hand over his hand on her belly to encourage him to continue.

“When Sheev was killed, I should have passed to your father, but as previously discussed, your father was already dead by this time. So in that case I should have passed to you. However, Sheev didn’t know you existed. Never did. I knew, but Sheev wasn’t exactly a good person, so I never gave him any indication. Why tell him he had a granddaughter when all he would do would be to corrupt her like he did his own child? So then a rival killed Sheev.

“When that happened, I thought I would be released because I wasn’t directly passed on to you. Instead, I was compelled to find you. Which as you know, I did a few months ago.”

“Where were you when my grandfather died?” Rey asked, shifting obligingly when Ben wiggled his foot between hers.

“New York. I have no idea how you ended up all the way here in Arizona.” He leaned in and kissed her neck again.

Rey shrugged. “Foster care system took me outside of New York. Scholarship brought me to Arizona. I got a full ride here.”

She could feel Ben nodding into her neck. “I see. Well Sheev died a year ago. It took me that long to make my way here.”

“Did you walk?!”

Ben chuckled. “Well there wasn’t really any other way I could get here. Magics that I can use myself are small. I can make people feel kindly toward me. I can make sure I stay fed, and I can give myself more stamina, but transportation is not one of my abilities. I can’t even stay in a human form unless my witch requests it.,” he tightened his arms around her.

“Okay, so you made it all the way here, a few months ago? When I started seeing you around campus?”

Ben nodded again. “By the time I found you, I had no idea what I was going to get with you. Were you going to be like Sheev? Cruel, dangerous, evil? This has been my experience with the Palpatine family in all my time with them. I wasn’t really interested in being bound to another human who was going to use me up. So I was cautious.”

Ben shifted again so that his knee pushed into the back of hers and both of their legs bent and his leg was fully between hers now. He also pulled her closer. Rey turned a little in his arms. “Ben...I would never use you.”

She felt his chuckle against her back as much as she heard it. “Oh, don’t say that,” he murmured. “I’m sure there’s some part of me that you could use.”

Rey snorted. “Ben, I’m serious.”

Ben’s body tensed up again and he sighed. “I stand by what I said. Don’t say things you can’t know will never happen.”

“Ben.” She wiggled until he loosened his grip on her and she turned in his arms. “I will  _ never _ use you. I know what it feels like to be looked at more as a commodity than a human. I am never going to do that to another living thing.”

Ben looked down into her eyes, staring intently at her with those impossibly dilated eyes that she’d only ever seen on a cat. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he tipped his chin down and kissed her. Rey let him, wrapping the arm not pinned under her to around his shoulder and dug her fingers into his hair. She reveled at how soft it was. Just like the softness of his fur.

After a time, Ben pulled away, and they were both a little breathless. He looked into her eyes, still looking like he wanted to say something but unwilling to let it out. Rey moved her hand down from out of his hair and to the back of his neck, where she squeezed the scruff gently. Ben’s eyes fluttered, and he let out a soft moan.

Rey giggled. “Just like a cat,” she said quietly.

Ben opened his eyes to stare at her. “That’s not fair. Just because you know cat pleasure sensors doesn’t mean you can just use them on me.”

Rey smirked. “Really?” She moved her hand down until she reached the base of his tail and ran her fingers lightly over the skin there. “What about this?”

Ben reached back and grabbed her hand in a tight hold. “We will not be only cuddling if you continue that,” he said with a smirk.

Rey continued to smirk at him. “You don’t say?” She bent her fingers so she could move her hand awkwardly and run a fingertip over the area again.

Ben closed her eyes and shivered before he pulled her and back and kissed her knuckles. “Not tonight, sweetheart,” he said softly.

Rey smiled at him and ran the same fingertip over his lower lip. “Alright. I’ll stop teasing.”

Ben smiled and let go of her hand before he pulled her back into his arms. “Shall I continue the story?” Rey nodded then tucked her head under his chin. “When I found you, you were definitely not what I expected. You didn’t even recognize what I was. So I watched you. Then I tried to approach you, but I honestly thought you were just hiding your true intentions from me. But the treats were really good, to be honest and I kept coming back mostly for those.”

Rey barked out a laugh, amused beyond all reason that this humanoid man was in it for the kitty treats. “Are you serious?”

“Cat priorities are completely different from human priorities, alright? I am very food motivated as a cat.” He softened his words by pulling back and smiling down at her, pressing a kiss to her hairline.

Rey pulled back and smirked at him. “And as a human?”

Ben smirked back and moved closer to her, tangling their legs up. “I think you can guess, can’t you?”

Rey nodded, flushing a little to feel so much of him against her front. “I think I do.” She paused for dramatic affect. “It’s non-racist Disney cat movies, isn’t it?”

Ben turned his head into the pillow under his head and he laughed riotously. “Yes, absolutely it is,” he said when he’d gotten control of himself. “It absolutely isn’t having a beautiful woman in my arms that her clothes are the only thing keeping me from casting caution to the wind and taking her.”

Rey’s eyes went wide and she covered her face. “You can’t just say things like that, Ben!” she cried, muffled into hands.

Ben laughed. “Oh. Well then what if you call me Benji, then it’ll be too cute and I’ll have to behave.”

Rey looked over the tops of her fingers at him when she’d drawn them down her face a little. “I highly doubt I will ever get you to ‘behave.’   
  


Ben smirked at her. “Perhaps. But why don’t you just try out?”

Rey, narrowed her eyes a little, then thought there was no harm in it. “Alright, Benji, knock it off or I’m getting the spray bottle.”

Ben laughed again. “Oh then I guess I’ll just have to listen.” Ben looked down into her face and reached a hand down to brush a lock of her hair out of her face. “Do you feel it, too?” he asked.

She didn’t need to ask him what he meant. She’d felt it all along. Even before she’d woken up with him naked in her bed this morning, she’d felt the pull, the connection to him. The one that made her think this was all supposed to happen. They were exactly where they were supposed to be at this very moment. They were always meant to meet.

Rey nodded and snuggled into him. “Yeah. I do. I thought I was alone.”

Ben’s arms wrapped tightly around her. “You’re not alone,” he whispered into her hair.

Rey smiled and wrapped her arms back around him. “Neither are you.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudos are splendid, comments are spectacular and MOAR is always inspiring~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to get steamy...but things are also starting to go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey~! Mental health has gotten a little better, though today was still a bitch. BUT! I have managed to get through this chapter so that I can post it tonight. I misremembered this chapter, so if I had mentioned that we were gonna find out why Snoke was at the campus, uh, that'll be like next chapter. I think.
> 
> This is the first chapter where things get really steamy, so yey~!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy~!

Rey woke the next morning, much the same as she had the previous day, wrapped up in a stranger's arms and legs. Not that Ben was a stranger anymore. Not really. They may not know very much about each other, being two completely different beings, but...Ben was special. He felt special. He felt like trust and home. He felt like belonging. That should have frightened her. This wasn’t a Disney princess movie. Things didn’t just happen all at once and ne’re a consequence, but she just couldn’t help sinking into him when he murmured in his sleep and nuzzled her neck.

Rey sighed and was going to let her nod back off to sleep since it was Saturday and it was Halloween. She was nearly asleep when his hand started moving. It was fairly innocent at first, just trailing patterns around her stomach, but then he was tugging at the hem of her shirt, peeling it away from her skin so he could slide his hand under it, and Rey gasped when his hand covered her breast.

“Ben...” she sighed, and a rumble rolled out of him into her back, making her feel like she was vibrating. She heard him inhaling her scent as he nuzzled into her hair. The hand on her breast moved, alternately kneading the mound of her breast and then tweaking the nipple lightly, and Rey moaned.

“Smell good,” he murmured sleepily. “Feel good.” He buried his face into her hair until his lips and tongue came into contact with her skin. “Taste good.”

Rey shivered as his hand continued to move over her, and she put a hand behind her to wrap it around the back of his neck. “So do you,” she whispered. “Keep touching me.”   
  


Ben nodded into her neck and now his hand was leaving her breast and moving down. She was shivering in anticipation as his hand slid under the waistband of her sleep pants. Rey moaned long and loud when his fingers slipped between her folds. This was escalating very quickly, and she didn’t care. He felt so good.

“Fuck, your so wet,” he whispered. “Is this all for me?”

Rey nodded, squeezing his neck, and he thrust his fingers back between the folds of her cunt, his long fingers sliding in far enough to tease her entrance. “Ben please....”

“Mmm?” he asked in her hair while his fingers rhythmically squeezed her clit between them.. “Please what? Please, Ben, will you put your mouth on my cunt? Is that what you wanted to ask?”

“Yes!” She whined, grasping his wrist and trying to hold it in place while she ground down on it to find some relief.

Ben chuckled in her ear and freed his hand from her grasp as he pulled it away from her cunt, making Rey whine again. “Okay, sweetheart, lay back.”

Rey didn’t hesitate. She moved as fast as he let her until she was on her back. Ben was on top of her the moment she was down, kissing her hungrily as she parted her legs to accommodate him. They both moaned as his cock came into contact with her still clothed pussy.  _ “Fuck,” _ she whispered hoarsely as he ground into her.

Ben moved his lips away from her mouth, to kiss his way down her jaw to her neck where he started sucking a bruise into her skin. She squirmed under him, alternatively wrapping her legs around him then dropping them, her mind and body at odds with what she wanted him to do. She threaded her hand through his hair and tugged. “Ben!”

Ben’s hands moved so that they were sliding over her, sliding down over her breasts, then back up under her shirt. He came back to her mouth to kiss her breath away for a moment before he broke it and slid her shirt over her head. He left her shirt there on her arms so she had to untangle herself and toss the shirt away. He was already working on her sleep pants, sliding them down over her hips until they were low enough so she could help kick them off.

Ben pulled away from her, getting onto his knees to look down at her. It made Rey want to squirm to be under such scrutiny, but the way he looked at her made her feel special and not studied. As it went on, his eyes roving over every part of her, she almost covered herself with her hands anyway, but then he was on her again, whispering soft, dirty things to her.

“So fucking beautiful,” he murmured. “So perfect. Your tits are as beautiful to look at as they are to feel.” He slid his hand over them as talked about them, then his hand slid down farther, sliding between her thighs. “And this sexy little cunt, so soft and hot.”

Rey shuddered, both at his touch and his words. Dirty talk had always sounded stupid to her and awkward to say. That was why she watched amateur porn when she needed to get off. But fucking hell, the way the words rolled out of him. Like he was fervent. Like he was seeing and touching something ethereal. It was unreal how it made her feel, but it stoked her arousal and blew it up to new heights.

“Ben...” she rasped. “I need your mouth on me.”

Ben brought his lips to hers again briefly before nodding. “Anything for you, sweetheart.”

He made his way down slowly though, and that was as annoying as it was electrifying. She wanted his mouth on her  _ now _ , but then she hadn’t specified where she wanted it though, had she? As he moved his way down her neck to her chest, he nibbled at her collarbone and made her giggle a little, but that was quickly banked when his mouth made it way down her breast to her nipple, where it wrapped his tongue around it and sucked it into his mouth.

Rey’s back arched and she wrapped her arms around him, digging her fingers into his shoulder blades while she moaned. She was right about his tongue being a little rougher than a human’s tongue. As he swiped his tongue over the taut bud she felt more sensitive, more raw, and she could feel her cunt clenching around nothing, which had never happened to her before. She’d never been so stimulated by nipple play in her life that it had her this turned on.

Ben laved at her nipple one last night, making her shiver again, before he moved down. Her heart was already pounding, but it just seemed to get a little faster and a little harder as he kissed his way down her belly. She was trembling in her excitement, and as he kept moving down, she let her hands slide along his back until her hands were on his neck. She squeezed gently, just like she would when trying to calm a cat, sending all those endorphins through their system.

Ben’s breathing went ragged, and he was shivering under her hands and he stayed there for a while, letting her massage his neck as he kissed around her belly button and nipped at her hip bones. Then it was becoming too much waiting for her and her clit throbbed with the need to be touched, so she let go of his neck and started running her fingers through his hair, using downward strokes to encourage him down. She felt his smirk against her belly, so she knew he was aware of what she was doing.

He didn’t tease her though and finally started making his way down her quivering belly to the neatly trimmed curls at the apex of her thighs. He turned his head slightly, as if to kiss her inner thigh, but it felt more like he was rubbing his cheek against her pussy and wasn’t that just...so primal? Should it have been a turn on? With the way her clit and inner walls were twitching, did it fucking matter?

“Are you marking me?” she whispered, still running her hands through his hair. Ben paused, then slowly turned his head to look at her and she grinned to see the light blush to his cheeks.

“Ah...yes, it seems that I am. It’s oddly habitual.”

He averted his eyes, but Rey reached for his chin and turned him back to look at her. “I like it.”

Ben watched her with his dilated cat eyes and a slow smile crept over his lips. “Is that so?”

That smirk made her breath hitch, and all she could do was nod. Keeping his eyes locked on her’s he tipped his chin down until his lips rested on her mons and she watched him part his lips and his tongue disappear between her folds, licking at the tight little bud that had been dying for attention all this time.

Rey let out an inarticulate noise and the one hand still in his hair tightened convulsively. His smirk turned feral, and he closed his eyes to turn his head again, this time rubbing the other cheek against her pussy. He kissed her other inner thigh this time, but it was clear that the point was to mark her. And she still liked that. Like how of all the places he could have marked her, he’d chosen her cunt. Loved it so much that he was marking her with his scent because as quickly as all of this had happened and as complicated as this was getting, she wanted to belong to him.

“Ben, quick fucking around,” she said quickly, her words running together in one breath. She felt his chuckle against her thigh and he nipped at it, oh shit he teeth were sharp. Was there anything about him that wasn’t feral? Did she want anything less than what he already was? Fuck no.

“Patience,” he murmured. “Need to make sure you’re all mine.”

Rey moaned as his fingers started petting her while he continued to kiss her inner thigh. “Already am,” she whispered.

Ben looked up at her, and his eyes turned wild and he wrapped his arms around her legs, using his thumbs to part her labia and lave up her cunt once before swirling around her clit. Both her hands went back to his hair as she looked down at him, her fingers sliding behind his ears and massaging his scalp. “Just like that,” she said nodding.

He grinned, though his eyes stayed hungry and he pressed his tongue flat against her clit and rolled it around in a circle and Rey couldn’t make eye contact anymore. She tossed her head back and tried to grind into his face, but he held her hips down. Rey moaned and wiggled, trying to find a place where he wouldn’t be teasing her because she didn’t really want this to last. Not really. She wanted to come on his mouth, and then she wanted to flip him over and come on his cock, and then she wanted to come on his fingers and mouth again, and do it all over and over all day, so she needed to come right now.

Ben didn’t cooperate. He kept sliding his rough tongue to each side while his thumbs ran over the peachy fuzz of her labia and fuck it was almost too much. She gripped his hair tightly to pull him up so she could look him in the eyes. “Quit fucking around,” she murmured. “There is a lot more we have to do today.”

Ben grinned at her and went back to her cunt, sucking her clit into his mouth, and Rey about lost her mind. She wanted to thrash when he slid a finger into her but she held herself down and just let go of his hair in favor of tearing at her bedsheets. Annoyingly she heard her phone’s text chime go off, but she ignored it. She was so close, they could fucking wait.

Ben added a second finger and Rey’s moans turned into pants that ended on little short moans. The phone chimed again.  _ Fuck _ she was so close. She couldn’t help bucking her hips anymore, and it was a good thing Ben was holding her down because her thrashing would have caused him to stop sucking on her and fucking her with his fingers.

Ben’s fingers curled then, pressing up against the front wall of her canal, and she wailed. She was still so close, but wasn’t quite there. The phone pinged again. Rey’s hands moved to her tits, and she kneaded them, pinched her nipples, twisting gently as she felt the wave coming. It was so elusive, so near and yet she was quite...

Ben’s tongue started swirling around her clit as he sucked, licking at it rapidly and finally,  _ finally _ the crest was crashing and her orgasm slammed into her. She thought her phone pinged again, but she was too busy riding the wave and his face because he was still sucking and still finger fucking her and oh, shit the orgasm that had been so elusive before was now smashing her with another wave of coming, and Rey thought she might have screamed Ben’s name, hands going back to the sheets for an anchor. She stayed there aloft, Ben’s mouth still on her but gentled and his fingers sliding in and out more slowly until he finally slid them out of her.

Rey’s whole body twitched and her inner walls fluttered as he lapped at her until he finally pulled away and laid his head against her thigh, smiling at her. Rey grinned down at him as she started to reach for him to pull him up for a kiss when her phone went off  _ again _ .

Ben looked in the direction of her phone and back at her. “Someone is really trying to get a hold of you.”

Rey pursed her lips as she reached to pet his hair. “Yeah. They’ve been pretty insistent. I really should check it.”

Ben turned his head and kissed the skin of her thigh and nodded. “Best that you do.”

Hooking her leg over him so he didn’t get any ideas about moving, Rey rolled a little and took up her phone, pulling it from the charger as she did so. There were significantly more than the five texts she’d just gotten, and they were all from Rose, the last one showing on her notifs just as “Call me, please.”

“Fuck,” she muttered, and sat up, putting a hand on Ben’s arm as he moved with her. 

He looked at her worriedly as she glanced from him back to her phone and unlocked it. There were seventeen texts from Rose, all since midnight. All of them were some variation of “I feel sick, I think I need to go to the hospital” to, “No, I’m sorry, don’t worry, I’m fine,” back to “no, shit, it’s still bad, please call me when you get this.”

“Fuck, fuck  _ fuck!”  _ Rey threw her legs over the edge of the bed as Ben moved out of her way and she tapped the call button, praying that Rose was still okay enough. It answered after two rings.

“Rey?” Rose rasped. “Oh thank god. Please come get me.”

“Rosie, I’m getting dressed now,” and she suited words to action, dashing over to her closet with the phone perched between ear and shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

She could hear the tears in Rose’s voice as she said “I don’t know...I feel so sick. I feel so drained. I can’t even get out of bed. I don’t know what to do.”

“Babe, I’m getting my clothes on now, but why didn’t you call an ambulance?”

“I can’t afford it,” she said.

Rey grit her teeth. Fucking health care system. “Just hold on, Rosie. I’m almost dressed and I’ll get in the car to come get you and take you to the ER, okay?”

“Okay,” she said softly. “Thank you, babe.”

“You got it.” She hung up the phone and looked back at Ben, who was slotting his tail through his pants from the night before. They were wrinkled but that didn’t seem to bother him.

“Why are you getting dressed?” she asked, pulling her shirt on after tossing the phone on her bed.

“Because I’m going with you.”

Rey shook her head. “You don’t need to do that. You can stay here.”

Ben shook his head as he left the room calling, “I can help,” from down the hall.

Rey followed him, dashing into the bathroom for her hairbrush before coming out to meet him in the little dining room where she’d left all of his clothing. “You don’t need to do that. You don’t even know her.”

Ben looked back at her as he shrugged into a button up. “She threw a milkbone at a car for me. She’s worth it.”

Despite her worry, Rey had to crack a smile and laughed a little as she dragged her brush through her hair quickly. “I didn’t realize you’d seen that.”

Ben shrugged as he was working on his buttons. “I didn’t but I could guess. The jar of milkbones was knocked over when you got me back to the table. But more importantly,  _ you  _ care about her, and that’s all I need to know.”

With his shirt buttoned he moved to her and kissed her gently on the lips. “If she matters to you, then she matters to me.” He turned her and swat her ass lightly. “Go brush your teeth.”

Rey yelped and turned to look back at him. “What about you?”

He grinned and grabbed up his duster. “Magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors. Kudos are grand, comments are stupendous, and MOAR always inspires~!
> 
> Join me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose dreams of a scarred man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Lovelies~! Here we are at chapter six! Half way there~! I tried to make a new moodboard for this chapter, buuuuuuut I should really just stay within my scope of practice. Maybe next chapter.
> 
> CW/TW: This chapter does spend quite a lot of time in a hospital setting, the waiting room, family consult room and the ICU. Also, Ben gets Rey some food from the hospital cafeteria.
> 
> With that, please enjoy~!

  
  


The drive to Rose’s apartment was a nightmare. Even though it was Saturday, there were people on the road, rushing to get to their events and parties or the store to get their arrangements finished for tonight and Rose’s apartment was nearer to campus than Rey’s was.

Every time her phone when off she’d grip her steering wheel hard while Ben read out the text to her. I wasn’t rose again. Mostly it was a few friends all checking in on her, and a coupon text from Chili’s for free chips and Queso. Once they finally arrived, Rey took the stairs up two at a time, followed closely by Ben. Rey jiggled her key into the door and burst in.

Rose was curled up in her bed, her body shaking, huddled under her blankets like she was freezing, but it was like a sauna in the little studio. Rey went immediately to her bed. “Rosie?” she said, tugging down at the comforter and pressing a hand to her friend’s forehead. She was on fire.

“Rey?” she croaked. “I...I don’t feel good.”

“Well, babe,” she said with a weak smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. “You have a fever. I don’t think I’d feel good with that either.”

Rose was wracked by trembling again, and Ben came in to peer at her. Rose looked up at him and slipped back. “Who the fuck...is he?”

Rey, took her hand and patted it. “It’s okay, it’s okay. This is my friend. His name is Ben.”

Rose blinked a couple of times before she pushed herself up and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Sorry, I just, your scar reminded me of someone and I’m a little fuzzy right now.”

Ben knelt down next to her. “Scar?”

Rose shook her head like she was trying to clear it. “Yeah, just...I guess I’ve been having nightmares.” She turned back to Rey. “Remember when you mentioned that Freddy Krueger guy? I’ve been seeing something like that in my dreams?”

Rey noticed that Ben’s hand clutched tightly at the edge of Rose’s bed and he turned slightly to her and gave her a  _ we’ll talk later _ look. “Well, Rose. It looks like we need to get you to the hospital. Is it alright if I carry you?”

Rose blinked up at him. “Uh...sure, I guess, if you think you can? I might be too heavy.”

Ben smiled gently at her. “I’m sure you’re light as a feather.” He put his arms out to her. “Come on. Up you go.”

Rose moved to the end of the bed and Ben scooped her up very much like she was no heavier than a feather. Rose squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re sure?” she asked.

Ben smiled, patting her leg with his fingers. “Completely. Let’s go.”

Rey stuck her hand out the door with her key fob and pressed it until the car beeped back at her that it was unlocked and then Ben was heading out. Rey dashed around for Rose’s purse and a sweater and her shoes, and then her coat and went out the door, locking it behind her before running down the stairs. She met them at the car and Ben was helping her into the back seat where Rose laid down, curling up again like she was still freezing.

“Here,” Rey said, handing him Rose’s coat and some socks.

Ben laid the coat gently over her and then just as gently got her socks on while Rey went around to the driver side to get the car started and the heater on. The drive to the hospital was just as hair razing with traffic getting worse as the day got later. Getting into the ER though was a pain.

They kept trying to get Rose to answer their questions but Rose was so out of it she wasn’t even responsive anymore. She just shivered and leaned against Ben while Rey tried to direct their questions to herself. Finally,  _ finally _ that got her blood pressure and her temperature, and then suddenly it was all they could do to get her into a bed. They wouldn’t let Rey or Ben in with her and Rey started crying.

“Rey,” Ben mumbled as she watched them wheel Rose into the back. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go find you a seat and then I’ll go get you something to eat.”

Rey looked up at him, dazed for a moment. Then nodded and let him lead her to one of the two-seater chairs in the waiting room. He had her down and was going to head out a thought struck her. “How are you going to pay for food?”

Ben looked a little sheepish as he looked back at her from the side of his eyes. “I’m very charming.”

Rey rolled her eyes and pulled out her wallet before handing him her credit card. “Use actual money, please.”

Ben winked at her as he took the card and headed off. Rey sighed as she watched him, frowning a little. She didn’t feel guilty for what they had done this morning. She felt bad that she never heard any of Rose’s text, but she wasn’t guilting for having sex with Ben this morning. Right?

She took another deep breath and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her head. So, so much was happening right now. All the certainties from last night seemed to be falling away now that she was sitting in the middle of a hospital waiting room. She hadn’t heard Rose’s text last night because she and Ben had gone to bed early last night, to snuggle. She had ignored Rose’s text this morning because she was getting off. But she had checked it before they had gone farther. So that was okay, right?

Fuck, what was she doing? Two nights ago she took in a stray. The next day she’s letting him walk around her apartment naked so his fucking  _ tail _ won't be uncomfortable. She’s buying him clothes and altering them for him for his fucking  _ tail. _ Then she’s making out with him, snuggling with him, enjoying the fact that he’s marking her pussy with his scent glands. What the actual fuck was wrong with her?!

Around and around her mind went until there was a soft puff of air from across for her and a styrofoam container moved into her vision. Rey looked up to see Ben across the row from her, his face impassive.

“Thanks,” Rey mumbled, tanking the container and opening it. It was basic breakfast. Eggs and bacon and some fruit. Rey nibbled at her lip.

“We don’t have to keep doing this,” Ben said softly. Rey looked at him. Ben tapped his temple. “We don’t have to keep doing this. I can go on my way. I’ll still be bound to you, but we can go on in our separate lives. I can go back to a cat and just wait until your children are grown. Then move on from them.”

Rey stared at him, blinking back tears. She wasn’t sure if they were from anger. “I told you to stop reading my mind.”

Ben’s eyes darkened and he looked angry? “You weren’t exactly being quiet about it.”

Oh, shit...it wasn’t anger in his eyes. It was hurt. Fuck.

“Ben no, I just...”

Ben took a deep breath and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. I understand this is a lot for you. And with your friend sick it's just not the right time. I understand.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m just going to step out for a little while, okay? I’ll um. I’ll make sure not to listen in.”

And then he stood and made his way out the sliding doors. Rey sniffed. What the actual fuck was happening? Why did she feel so awful? She hadn’t thought of anything that should have questioned this whole time. This entire thing was a nightmare. One she couldn’t wake up from because apparently, this was her life. And it was so unbelievable because this kind of shit  _ didn’t happen to her. _

No the shit that happened to her were her parents blowing themselves up, hopping from one foster home to another, never being the one that the foster parents wanted to keep, and the one time someone finally wanted to keep her and did, it was for the monthly check they got for her and made her work to even have enough food to get through the school day and working in the junk yard at night. Magic didn’t happen to her. Beautiful cat men didn’t fall in love with her the moment they met her. No one loved her. Except maybe Rose, but even that, Rey questioned sometimes. Why would Rose care about her? She was nothing. She was nobody.

Rey dissolved into tears. She worked through the food methodically, even when it tasted like her tears. Salt made the eggs taste better.

  
  


*******

A nurse was at Rey’s side sometime later and knelt down. “Miss?”

Rey sat back, startled, and she wiped her tears that hadn’t stopped falling from her cheeks. “Yes, I’m sorry, what?”

She looked at Rey sympathetically. “You came in with Miss Tico, right?”

Rey nodded. “The doctor would like to talk to you. I’m going to take you to a family consult room, okay?”

Rey nodded again. “Oh, okay. Lemme just get my...my friend.”

She stood at the same time that Rey did. “I’m sorry. If he’s not related, we can’t have him in there. We’re only able to bring you in because you know her medical history.”

Rey nodded. “Oh. Okay. Can I just let him know where I’ll be?”

The nurse smiled. “Yes of course, I’ll be waiting by the door.”

Rey nodded and headed out the sliding doors. Ben was sitting on a bench just outside of the doors, hands in pockets, staring hard at some birds across the way.

“Ben?”

“Hmm?” His eyes didn’t move from the birds. 

“They have an update on Rose. They’re going to take me back to a family consult room, but they said you can’t come back with me.”

Ben nodded. “Alright. I’ll be here.”

The tears pricked at the corners of Rey’s eyes and she sniffed. Ben turned his head slightly in her direction but didn’t look at her. “Go on, Sweetheart. Rose needs you.”

Rey sniffed again and nodded before heading back in. The family consult room wasn’t very big. Just enough for a sofa and a small desk with a computer on it. Rey waited a few moments before the doctor came in. Rey stood and took his outstretched hand.

“Good morning, Miss Johnson,” he said as he shook it gently. “Please have a seat. I have an update for you.”

Rey nodded and sat back.

“I can’t tell you much, for HIPPA, but I can tell you that your friend is very sick. I can tell you, we don’t know why. And I can tell you that we are admitting her to the ICU. Beyond that, I’m sorry, but I can’t say.”

Rey nodded. “I understand.”

The doctor nodded. “Good. Does she have family?”

Rey stared at him wide eyed. “Oh, shit, yes. I can’t believe I haven’t called her!”

The doctor shook his head and patted her hand. “It’s fine, Miss Johnson. It happens when we’re stressed out. We forget things, we think about things irrationally. Fear for our loved ones will make everything we’ve done up to that moment seem so insignificant and we berate ourselves for what we see as failings. Don’t be hard on yourself, okay?”

Rey nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

The doctor gave her another small smile and nodded. “Give her sister a call, and when we get her into a room, we’ll let in visitors, okay?”

Rey nodded again and stood up with him. She shook his hand again, and he pointed her in the direction of the exit. Rey dialed Paige as soon as she was out the door and let her know what was going on. Paige thanked her and said she would leave town within the hour and be at the hospital in two. Rey nodded and rang off with her.

Rey looked around the waiting room. It was mostly empty. Enough so that her chair was still empty with empty seats all around it. Rey made her way outside and found Ben still on the bench. She moved over to him and held out her hand to him. Ben looked up at her.

“They’re admitting her to the intensive care unit. We need to wait until they’ve got her in a room before she can have visitors.” She took a deep breath and swallowed thickly. “Come sit with me?”

Ben looked up into her eyes, and they weren’t relieved as she had kind of hoped they would be, but they were soft. He nodded and took her hand, standing and walking back into the hospital with her. She made her way back to the seat and pushed him down gently in it. When he had adjusted his tail and sat back, Rey sat next to him and leaned in. Finally taking a calming breath since they’d arrived with him wrapped his arms around her.

The waiting was long. It seemed like maybe there wasn’t a room ready for her right away, but Ben was nudging her awake sometime later when the same nurse as before was standing next to her. Rey sat up quickly. “Yes?”

“We have your friend in a room now and she can take visitors. You both can head back, okay?”

Rey nodded and stood, making sure she took Ben’s hand too so he would have to come with her. She knew this was like a manipulation, but she just needed him. She’d hurt him, she knew, but she didn’t know how else she was going to get through this. He squeezed her hand gently as he stood and they both followed the nurse back to get directions to the ICU.

Before long they were in Rose’s room and she smiled at Rey, then nodded at Ben. She still looked so pale. But at least she didn’t look like she was going to crumble with a look. “Hi, babe. How are you doing?” Rey asked.

Rose shrugged. “I feel sick, and I just can’t explain it,” she said quietly, like it took a lot of effort for her to speak. “The doctors keep telling me they are running tests, but they don’t seem to know what’s wrong with me.”

Rey nodded, brushing her bangs out of her face. “I know, Babe. That’s why they are running the tests, right?”

Rose nodded. “Did you get to call Paige for me?”

Rey nodded. “Yeah, she’ll be here soon. I called her just about two hours ago.”

Rose nodded. “Okay. Thank you.” She swallowed thickly then looked around. “Could you get my water?” she asked, pointing at a styrofoam cut with a straw.

“Of course, babe.” Rey got it for her and Ben caught her eye when she came back around. That same  _ we need to talk _ look.

Rey was about to send her own look of  _ later _ but at that moment, a nurse escorted Paige in. “Rosie?”

Rose smiled at her sister. “Hey, sis.”

Rey patted Rose’s hand and stepped out so the sisters could be alone for a moment. Ben followed her out and took her by the elbow as he looked around. He drew her to a far corner filled with unused medical equipment. He got straight to the point. “I know what’s wrong with her.”

Rey stared with wide eyes, and it was on the tip of her tongue to yell at him for not saying something sooner, but...

“Something magical?” She asked quietly.

Ben nodded. “The man that tried to run us over. Did he have any contact with either of you?”

Rey blinked and had to think for a moment. So many things had happened since she’d almost become roadkill. “Ah...yes! Yes, he was hitting on her. I got between them and made him take a hike. Right after that is when you came up the road and then he tried to run you over.”

Ben nodded. “Us. He was targeting you as well.”

Rey furrowed her brow. “Why?”

“Because you didn’t fall under his spell.”

“Well, no. I’m not charmed by just any man, especially one that creepy.”

Ben shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders. “No, I mean actual spell. That man is Snoke. He’s also a witch.”

“What?!” she hissed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Ben looked around then back at her. “Let’s go somewhere no one is going to overhear us?”

Rey looked around and saw a nurse looking at them curiously before going back to her charting. “Okay,” she said nodding. “Just let me check on Rose and let her know we’re leaving and we can go home.”

Ben nodded in agreement and Rey went off. Paige had pulled a chair up to Rose’s bedside and both women looked up as rey came back in. “Hey, Babe. Ben and I are gonna head out now that Paige is here. I’ll come back and see you later?”

Rose smiled at her. “Yes, babe. Thank you so much.”

Rey smiled at her. “Anything for you, Rosie.”

“Tell Ben thank you, too. I guess you just met him and he didn’t have to help me.”

Rey smiled at her. “He’s a good man. He had to help you.” She leaned in and kissed Rose on the forehead. She exchanged a hug with Paige and left the room with a wave.

Rey took Ben’s hand and he smiled so softly at her. She looked at him and asked “What?”

Ben shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later when we figure out what we’re going to do to help Rose.”

Rey nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

Ben smiled and she led him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors. Kudos are lovely, comments are beautiful and MOAR always inspires~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what did Snoke do to Rose?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. Thank you so much for your patience. I know I went way over the update schedule this week. If you missed the tweet, we had a death in the family a week ago and I was only able to really look at my writing today. Of course, I spent the day writing a completely different fic because my brain just works that way, but luckily this chapter was already beta'd by [Evangel10n](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evangel10n/pseuds/Evangel10n), so I just had to read through and clean it up a bit before posting. Chapter 8 is also back so I'll be able to post that...possibly tomorrow? To make up for the last week? I dunno, we still have family over so I might not be able to get to the computer. But I should be able to.
> 
> Ah, we are also starting to get into the actual magic portion of the story. Know that while I, myself, am a witch, I made all of this the fuck up. Like has no baring on magic IRL and I only borrowed like a couple of things. We'll get more into that in the next chapter, but it does kinda start in this one.
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for reading. I really truly appreciate all of your comments and kudos. I really really do. You all are wonderful.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 
> 
> Warning: MASSIVE FLUFFS ABOUND

Once they were in the car, Rey pulled out of her spot and headed out of the parking lot. “Alright, so lay it on me.”

“So, you said that Snoke was talking to Rose, right?”

Rey nodded, pausing at the light to the street. “Right. I had been talking to someone about the rescue and looked over and saw him leering at her. So I got between them and told him to back off.”

“Alright, and how did Rose look?”

Rey blinked and thought about it while she turned left onto the road. “Ah, now that you mention it, she was pretty dazed. And when I asked her about the guy she acted like she didn’t even know what I was talking about, which was really, really weird because like how do you forget that kind of Freddy Kreuger guy looking at you like he’s going to eat you?”

“Because he made her forget,” Ben said. “He was setting a snare for her. One where he could draw on her from a distance. She said she’d been dreaming about a man with a scar, right?” Rey glanced up as he touched his own scar under his eye. “When she saw my scar, she got scared because she had been dreaming about Snoke.”

“Okay, but who is this Snoke?”

Ben glanced at her, dropping his hand. “Your grandfather’s apprentice. The same man who killed your grandfather.”

Rey nearly slammed on the breaks, but she was still in the middle of traffic. “Excuse me?”

Ben nodded. “Since your father had left with no apparent magical ability, Sheev had to take on an apprentice to take his place, again, not knowing that you existed, otherwise he would have come for you instead.” Ben held onto the ‘Oh shit!’ bar as Rey swerved to get to the right lane and into a parking lot.

“Okay, I clearly need to not be driving while we have this conversation.” Rey found a spot and put her car in park. “Continue.”

Ben stared at her a little warily and pried his hand off the bar. “Alright. Well, it wasn’t anything special. Snoke isn’t as powerful magically as Sheev was, or you are. So he ended up smothering him in his sleep,” Rey stared at him in horror, “Not the most dignified of deaths, to be sure, but better than he deserved, I assure you.”

“I am so glad I never met this grandfather.”

Ben nodded. “I’m glad I never told him about you. Snoke would have tried to kill you, too.”

Rey shivered. “Alright, so what do we do to get this guy’s hooks out of Rose? And will she get better?”

Ben nodded. “She will get better. The only way to stop Snoke is through magic. We have no idea where he is, and he's going to be on guard now because he knows that I’ve found you. There is no possible way that he didn’t recognize you as a Palpatine. The familial signature is unmistakable. Like a sigil.”

“Sigil?”

“Shit. Alright. Elementary magic. Every living thing has an energy signature. Anyone who knows how to look for it can read that signature. All the energy is connected to everything that lives, and so are all things connected to each other. Certain bonds are stronger than others, like the ones from the same bloodline. Like calls to like. So your personal signature in the world reads like your grandfather’s. So similar that it can’t be mistaken for anything other than an individual of the Palpatine bloodline,” Ben paused, “Got it so far?”

Rey nodded slowly. “Yes. I think so. And sigil?”

Ben shrugged. “It’s a...personal marker? Like your signature, but only seen in the magical aspect.”

Rey nodded again. “Okay, so, you’ve indicated that we can do something, even though we don’t know where Snoke is. How do we do that?”

Ben took a deep breath. “Magical combat.”

Rey stared at him. “What?!”

Ben put up warding hands. “It’s not like it sounds. You’re just going to do a spell that will unbind Rose from him and then bind him up to prevent him from doing more harm.”

Rey looked at him. “This is giving me  _ The Craft _ vibes.”

Ben blinked at her. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s a movie about witchcraft, how do you not know it?”

Ben raised a brow. “Is there a cat in it?”

Rey stared at him. “Well, yeah for like two seconds.”

Ben shook his head. “Then I didn’t watch it. Witchcraft movies are nothing like the reality of witchcraft. I skip them in the queue.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “You’re such a snob.”

“I prefer  _ connoisseur _ .”

Rey just rolled her eyes again. “Okay. So unbind and bind.” She looked at Ben very seriously. “How do I do that?”

“Do you have an esoteric store about here?”

Rey tossed him her phone and got back into drive. “Look up metaphysical or occult shops.”

Ben did not immediately start using the phone. “Ah...I’ve never used a smartphone before.”

Rey blinked at him before she pulled back out into traffic. “Really? You seem so modern.”

“Yes, well, I’m a cat. I see things but don’t get to use them often. I didn’t have thumbs until recently.”

Rey snickered. “Okay, you're looking for the chrome app. Big circle with blue, red, green, and yellow.”

Ben went through her menus until he found it. “Okay.”

“Alright, tap the search bar with the magnifying glass and type in metaphysical.”

“Got it. And hit enter?” he asked and Rey nodded. “Alright, there’s one about three miles from here. Closes in about an hour.”

Rey nodded again. “Alright. Tell me how to get there.”

  
  
  


*******

  
  
  


Rey opened the door and stepped out of the way for Ben to bring in the things they had purchased at Phoenix Rising, including a goddamn  _ cauldron _ . He set it all down on her dining room table and turned back to her as she shut the door.

“Alright. I’ve just spent three hundred dollars. Do I really need all of this?”

Ben nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately. Sorry it was so expensive. It didn’t use to be.”

Rey shrugged, pulling her coat off her shoulders and arms. “Inflation. So what do we need to do?”

Ben pulled all the things they had bought out of their bags. “We need to add all the ingredients together and boil them for a few hours. Then you're going to knot the ribbon, soak it in the brew, drink some of the brew. While you’re doing that I’m going to get the non-magical preparations done.

“Sorry, I have to drink something?” Ben nodded. “What exactly are we putting in this shit?”

Ben grimaced. “Not much. Some herbs. Tinctures, ground crystal, honey, it’s all very safe.”

Rey stared at him. “I’m sorry.  _ Ground crystal? _ ”

Ben scratched his eyebrow with his thumbnail. “Yeah. It’ll be all ground up. Won’t even notice it.”

“Until I have to go to the hospital to have my stomach pumped!”

Ben shrugged. “You’ll already be nearby during visiting hours, then.”

Rey groaned and covered her face with her hands.”

Ben came over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Rey, it’ll be fine. You’re not going to get sick. I have seen witch after witch do this exact spell over the centuries. None of them have ever needed their stomach pumped, whatever that is.”

Rey looked up at him. “Your modern knowledge has strange holes in it.” Ben shrugged. Rey took a deep breath and leaned her head against his chest. Instantly his arms went around her and he held her close. “Thank you,” she said into his shirt. “For helping me.”

Ben squeezed her gently. “Of course. I would do anything for you.”

Rey tipped her head back to look up at him. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she said quietly. “I just...I didn’t know what to think and I--”

Ben touched a finger to her lips. “There’s nothing you need to apologize for, Rey. It is not my job to dictate to you how you should feel. This is just as new to me as it is to you. I just have a little more experience in processing new things.”

“Eh?”

“I’m three hundred and seventy-five years old.”

Rey stared up at him. “You’re...you’re how old?”

Ben flushed a little and averted his eyes. “Yes, I’m old.”

Rey blinked a few times. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s what that means, but you know, I’m not used to people living more than like a little over a hundred years, so three hundred is like a lot.”

Ben gave her a tight smile and started to pull away. “Yeah...sorry. Just another reminder that I’m not human.”

Rey wrapped her arms tightly around him and held him flush against her. “No, that’s not what I mean either. Well, it is, but it doesn’t...it doesn’t really bother me.”

Ben tilted his head and looked down at her. “Are you sure? It bothered you quite a lot earlier.”

Rey pursed her lips. “Yes. It did. And yes, it does bother me a little, but I think that is a normal human reaction, right? I didn’t know any of this two days ago. I didn’t know I had another dead relative, I didn’t know magic was real, and I didn’t know I might, kinda fall in love with someone who isn’t entirely human, but entirely wonderful.”

Ben stared down at her, and to be fair, Rey had not expected to confess to him at all much less like this. But she couldn’t take the words back because she really meant them. Rey took a deep breath. “I’m not saying that I completely understand how I feel. I don’t because this is all very, very messy and complicated and now my best friend is hurt and the stakes are much higher. But, I know that I don’t want to lose you. I’ve only just met you, but I don’t want to lose you.”

Ben smiled softly and brought his hands to her face. “You can’t ever lose me, Rey. I will always be with you unless you tell me otherwise.”

Rey frowned. “Is that because you want to or because you're bound to me?”

Ben brushed her hair out of her eyes. “The bond doesn’t matter. I could have spent your whole life never getting close to you. That had been the plan from the start. But there was always something else tugging me to you. I don’t have to work for a witch if they don’t know I exist. You weren’t going to know that, so there was no harm in never reaching out to you. But there was  _ something _ that made me walk across an entire country, and a familial bond wasn’t it.”

Rey pinched her lips, bringing her hands up to his wrists and holding them. “But you were a cat.”

Ben nodded. “Yes, I was. But you have to agree that in a lot of ways, I’m still a cat even in a human form. That goes both ways.” Ben looked away for a moment before taking a deep breath and coming to look back at her. “Rey I’ve loved you from the first time you reached out to me. Your hand reached out in kindness and not to harm. No one in my entire life has ever reached out to me in kindness. Never. How could I not fall in love with you?”

Rey felt tears prickle in her eyes again. “How can you be this romantic? How are you like this?”

Ben smiled down at her and very gently leaned in before whispering, “I watch a lot of Disney Princess movies.” And as she giggled, he very gently pressed his lips to her in the softest kiss shed ever experienced in her life.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors. Kudos are lovely, comments mean the world to us, and MOAR always keeps us inspired.
> 
> Join me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so the spell to save Rose and deal with Snoke begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to thank all of my commenters. You all...you have no idea how much your kind words have helped. I had really wanted to get this next chapter out to you as quickly as I could but I wasn't sure if it would be before Monday, but really, all of you. Thank you so much.
> 
> Second: THE SEXY TIMES HAVE FINALLY FULLY ARRIVED!!!!! Not that this was a slow burn or anything. I'm not even sure I'm capable of a slow burn, but since they were interrupted before because Snoke is an asshat, here we are~!
> 
> Third: I want to give a super special awesome thanks to [Evangel10n](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evangel10n/pseuds/Evangel10n) for helping me keep Ben in character. XD She's been great in helping me keep my grammar up for him. So thank you, thank you, thank you~!
> 
> Fourth: It's my birthday~! So I feel a little hobbitish in wanting to give ya'll a new chapter on my birthday, but, it just feels right. And someone of RFR might have inspired me to do it now rather than later as well. >_>
> 
> Otherwise, please enjoy~!

  
  


“Okay, the what goes where?”

Ben smirked at her as he twisted the jar around and around to get the little bit of silver paint all over the inside. “What step are you at?”

Rey looked at the mortar and pestle in her hands. “Uh...I just ground up the morning glory.”

Ben nodded as he tipped the jar over onto a paper towel and let the excess paint drip out. “That goes in the cauldron directly with the vinegar. Next, you grind up the obsidian. That will not go into the cauldron until it’s on a boil, so you’ll set that aside when it’s done.”

Rey nodded and took up the sharp glass stone. “How much?”

Ben paused what he was doing before he set the jar down on its lip and wiped his hands off on a towel before moving over to her. “Just a sliver, so let me do that for you.”

Rey narrowed her eyes. "Why? Because I’m a girl and might cut myself?" 

Ben looked at her blandly. "Do you know how to bevel obsidian?" 

Rey looked bad just as blandly. "I've never even heard that word used as a verb." 

Ben nodded, taking the glassy stone from her. "Then yes, because you might cut yourself and your blood can’t be in this spell."

"Oh."

Ben chuckled and came next to her. He kissed her gently before taking the pestle. She watched as he carefully tapped at the stone with the pestle. "Normally you probably wouldn’t want to do it this way, but there aren't any other tools we can use, so this'll do."

A small sliver of glass fell into the mortar and Ben once again tapped at it. "You want the pieces small as possible before grinding since it's glass."

Rey continued to watch while he began grinding. When it was clear the pieces were too small to cause much damage, he handed her the pestle. "There you go."

She took the pestle from him and he started moving back to the jar and its paint, but Rey grabbed his wrist first. Turning, he looked down at her and she used the opportunity to go onto her toes and kiss him. Ben smiled against her lips and briefly kissed her back. 

"What was that for," he asked when they broke apart. 

Rey shrugged. "Just for being you."

Ben's slow smile made an appearance and he closed his eyes slowly before leaning in for another quick peck. Rey recognized the gesture for what it was now. He trusted her. She was his human, as it were. With bright smiles, they both went back to their jobs. 

They got the rest of the herbs into the small cauldron, along with the vinegar, which smelled...lovely. It wasn't the worst thing she'd ever smelled, but it wasn't the best either. She turned on the overhead fan when it got to boiling, and that seemed to keep the worst of it at bay. Ben was smirking at her when she turned for the rest of the ingredients.

Once she'd added the ground obsidian, she turned around to look at him. "Okay, so now what."

"Well, now we wait," he said, indicating that she should turn the heat down and handed her the lid. "It needs to simmer for a few hours, completely in darkness, so no stirring. Unfortunately, that means it's going to be a mess to clean later but...what are you doing?" 

Rey had hooked her fingers in his belt loops and turned him so they were a little farther away from the stove before she kissed his lips, then his jaw, his neck. Ben's hands came to her hips and he pulled her tighter to his body. Rey moved her mouth down his neck, licking his pulse point before moving on. 

Ben's head tilted back as her lips and teeth found his collarbone on the right, licking and nibbling around it, and he let out a soft sigh. His hands moved slowly over her and she made her way to his other clavicle, licking at the hollow of his throat and scraping her teeth lightly at his Adam's apple. His hands slid to her hips then up her sides to her waist and ribcage, content to let her roam his body with her mouth. 

He still wore his button-up so she brought her own hands up to pluck the buttons loose, one at a time. Each time new skin was revealed she would press opened mouth kisses to his chest, swirling her tongue against his skin. Ben's hands moved up farther until they were covering her breasts and her breath hitched as he gently kneaded them. 

She could feel him growing hard against her belly and it woke an answering ache between her legs. With his shirt completely opened, she pushed it off his shoulders, perforcing that he remove his hands from her breasts so he could let it slide off his arms onto the floor. 

Rey attached her mouth to his skin again, lick and sucking at the shallow valley between his pectorals. She slid her hands around his waist to slide her hands under his waistband and felt his tail flicking and sweeping around wildly. She smirked against his skin and her fingers dove for that place at the base of his tail and Ben shivered and moaned when she touched it. His cock hardened abruptly, and she slid her hands down so she could reach for the fastening of his pants. 

Rey freed him from the confines of his pants, both his cock and his tail until his pants were pooling around his ankles and bare feet. Without warning, she dropped to her knees in front of him and took him in her hands. Ben gasped and leaned forward, bracing himself against the counter and trapping her between his legs and the cabinet. 

"Rey," he rasped. "You don't--!" 

She shut him up by taking his cock head into her mouth. The long low moan that came out of him was gratifying and so she slid him farther into her mouth. 

Ben’s huge hand threaded its way into her hair and he gripped her gently, moving his hips just a little in encouragement and Rey slackened her jaw a little so she could take more of him into her mouth. She knew he was...endowed. She’d seen evidence of it for the last two days, but the way he slid to the back of her throat was an entirely different story. He was heavy in her mouth and she loved it, slithering her tongue along the underside of his shaft.

Ben shuddered over her and she let her hands slide up his legs to his ass where she held him and opened her mouth wide to take him down her throat. Her pinkies just grazed the base of his tail and his hand gripped tighter in hair. Rey moaned and he followed suit, their sounds resonating and harmonizing. She thought he liked the vibration around his cock, so she just hummed tunelessly around him and his slight thrusting into her mouth became more pronounced.

Rey gripped his ass hard with one hand and slid the other between his legs so she could fondle his balls. “Fuck! Rey, I’m going to come down your throat if you keep going on like this!”

Rey grinned, completely to herself because her mouth was too full of him to smile properly. She started a quick bobbing motion on his cock while her hand reached between his legs, up until she reached the soft, furred base of his tail and she gave it a gentle tug, sliding her hand up and down it slowly much like she would do with her mouth on his cock.

“Shit!” he hissed, and the hand in her hair was holding her tightly in place while he gently fucked her face.

Rey’s lashes fluttered as she closed her eyes in pleasure. Both at the aching between her thighs that made her squirm and at how he was falling apart because of her. Rey tightened her lips around him and hollowed her cheeks, letting him change the pace between her mouth around his cock and her hand on his tail. The erratically swinging thing shivered and wrapped itself around her wrist, effectively holding her hand in place while he moaned and groaned and came in her mouth.

As his cum pooled in her mouth, she swallowed it down right away before swirling her tongue around the glans as he slowly let go of her hair. His tail still quivered and tightened around her wrist for just a moment before it too slowly let her go. Rey gave him one last lick as his cock softened and she brought her hands back to herself, looking up at him with the most pleased look on her face.

Ben growled and snatched her up from the armpits and pulled her up, throwing her over his shoulder as if she weighed little more than a sack of potatoes. He kicked his pants off and marched her into her bedroom before he tossed her on the bed. Rey shrieked in laughter and rolled to crawl away when he reached for her. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her back before she could get far and she was giggling like a maniac as he climbed on top of her, pinning her down with his arms and legs much like he had that first night, except this time, she knew exactly who was on top of her and what he wanted from her. And she wanted it, too.

Ben growled again, and how fucking sexy was it to be with a man who could _ actually _ growl and not just sound like he had rocks in his throat or that he worked in a smokey bar for thirty years. And then the rumble rolled out of him and...

“Are you actually purring?” she asked as he nuzzled at her pulse point, making her voice hitch.

Ben pulled away and looked down at her, his brow raised. “I’ve never thought about it before,” he whispered with that low rumble quality to it that made her shiver. “But, yes I think I am.” He moved into her neck again, turning his little rumble into a rolling growl that made her giggle and she squirmed under him as the vibration tickled the skin of her neck.

“Ben,” she whined. “Stop teasing.” 

Ben drew away from her, grinning. “Oh you think this is teasing?” he asked, his previously slit eyes dilated round again. “I think I can make things much more teasing if you like.”

Rey stared at him intently as she nibbled her lower lip and Ben leaned in, licking at her mouth until she loosened her bite before he nipped at her lips, and then he was kissing her and Rey melted, wrapping her arms around him and hugging his hips with her knees. 

He undressed her slowly moving his mouth over her, not just her breasts but also her shoulders, down her arms, her ribs, and her solar plexus. Her sides and hips when he slid her jeans off her. He completely bypassed her cunt, making his way down her thigh and knee to her leg. He gave her ankle bone a swirl of his tongue before kissing from her arch over the top of her foot and started making his way back down. 

Rey was quivering, vibrating. Every time she reached for him to pull his into a proper fucking position, he would pause and take her hand and kiss it, staring over the top of it with his signature smirk the resume his teasing. 

He was working his way down her other leg now and there was only one logical place for him to go with his mouth and she was throbbing for him. And then the son of a bitch bypassed her cunt  _ again _ and moved back up the center of her body. Rey thrust her fingers into his hair and dragged him up to her face. He was smirking by the time they were face to face.

“Knock it off,” she muttered.

Ben leaned in and kissed her. “Are you done with my teasing?” he asked as his lips brushed back and forth over hers. “Have I made my point or should I do more?”

Rey tightened her grip in his hair. “Now would be a great time to fuck me. I don’t care if it’s with your tongue on your cock, but tease me anymore, and I’ll be taking over.”

Ben hmmed, slanting his lips against hers and in a messy sounding kiss. “Oh yeah? You did pretty well in the kitchen. Maybe I should let you?”

Rey tried to get a grip on him, pushing at him with her hips, but he snickered at her failed attempts to move his bulk. “No, I think I’ll keep you like this. All riled up and wanton.”

Rey whined and tried to roll her hips again, but his were cradled against hers and she couldn’t do more than rock to each side. She hooked her feet around his knees and tried to pull him up against her that way but there was just no moving him. She huffed and pouted up at him.

His smirk was almost enough to turn her off, just how fucking smug he looked, but then he rolled his hips into hers, rubbed what felt like his semi-hard cock against her core and she almost screamed in relief. Her nails bit into his biceps as he did it again, and yeah he was getting harder. Without warning, Ben pulled away from her and Rey cried out in outrage, her hands still chasing after him, but then he was crawling down so he was laying himself flat between her legs and without any hesitancy, put his mouth on her cunt.

Rey’s back bowed for a moment, the sensations catching her by surprise. She ran her hands through his hair again, the silken feel of the strands very quickly becoming her favorite thing to feel. He didn’t give her a chance to breathe though. He went straight for her clit, sucking it into his mouth and sucking on it while his tongue flicked against it over and over again. It was so much at once and she actually tried to get away.

Ben didn’t let her. Instead, he thrust a finger into her cunt, followed by a second right on the heels of the first.

“Fuck!” she cried as he bent his fingers forward to the ceiling. Ben didn’t let up. Rey’s orgasm wasn’t going to wash over her, it was going to gallop up and trample her. Her whole body seized and convulsed alternatingly until by the end of it she was nothing but mulch, her limps all noodley. Ben slowly kissed his way up until he was lying next to her, kissing her neck and shoulders gently as she recovered.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Better this time?”

Rey nodded, a little speechless in fact. She rolled so she was facing him and drew him in for a kiss before she was rolling him onto his back as she was climbing on top of him. Ben’s hands went to her hips as he watched her move. She straddled his hips before she ground down on his fully hard cock. Ben tilted his head back and sighed, that strange purring sound rumbling out of him again as she got him all slick with her cum. “So this is how we’re going to proceed?”

"I need you now," she sighed, letting her head fall back while she writhed, whimpering his massive hands moved up to cover her breasts. 

She rode him like that for a moment, sliding back and forth as she coated him until she couldn’t handle it anymore. She brought her head back up and got up on her knees before reaching for him. When she had him slotted against her entrance so slowly sank down on him. 

Oh fuck, she knew he was big but she was not properly prepared for this, much to her own chagrin. Rey lifted up again a little before letting herself slide down again. It was a slow, torturous process, just as teasing as everything he'd done prior to this and she felt a little stupid now. 

Rey risked a glance at his face and felt all of her embarrassment melt away. The look of rapture on his face made him look so beautiful and it made her  _ feel _ beautiful. His hands rested on her thighs, her own movements causing them to slide along her skin. She watched him lick his lips as his gaze moved to her tits and she felt her nipple tingle. 

"Ben put your mouth on me, please!" 

He sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist as he brought his face to her tit and placed an open-mouthed kiss on her nipple. Rey gave a long, low moan as he sucked on it and laved at it with his tongue and she was  _ finally  _ able to sink down until he bottomed out. And they both moaned at that. 

Now that he was fully seated in her, she pushed him back a little to kiss him, and then she pushed him back down on the bed, bracing herself on his shoulders. She gave one experimental roll of her hips that had them moaning in concert again and Ben's hands flying to her hips. And that was it. 

She rode him hard and fast, making the springs in her bed squeak in protest as she bounced on him. Ben's head rolled back and his fingers dug into the soft fleshy parts of her hips hard enough that she knew she was going to bruise. Ben bent his legs behind her and Rey moved her center of gravity back so she could lean against his thighs. 

His eyes were riveted to where the bodies joined. She didn't have a good look from her angle, but if the feral light in his eyes was anything to go back they looked amazing sliding against each other's bodies. She wished she could see the contrast between his dark, ruddy red sliding in and out of her slick pink. Next time she was going to make him work and she'd watch. 

And yes, she was planning for a next time already. And a next time after that and again after that and a few more times and that just was for the rest of the weekend. She wanted so much from him. She wanted to be with him forever and she shied away from the thought of why that wasn't just a dream but a coercive reality. Instead, Rey leaned back farther, bowing her belly out and dangling her hair down her back again. 

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” Ben asked as his hands slid up her back, gripping, and using her movements to help him massage her body. “So beautiful.”

Rey felt her cheeks heat up more than they already were with a flush that was as much from the pleasure of their bodies to the pleasure of his words. “You’re biased,” she murmured as he gyrated her hips.

His gaze bore into hers. “I’m right.” When she averted her eyes and tried to distract him with the movements of her hips, but he wasn’t one to be distracted. He dropped his knees as he sat up again, wrapping his arms around her waist as he let her continue to move. “I’m right,” he said again.

Rey pinched her lips together but then Ben was kissing her, encouraging her to let her let go so he could suck lightly on it. When his tongue slid into her mouth Rey sighed and wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders and let him kiss her while she still moved her hips over his. They stayed like that for a long time. She thought this was supposed to be some kind of sexy, kinky sex scene that had him fucking her into the bed and using his tail on her inappropriately, but it turned into something...softer.

As they kept kissing, Ben pulled her down with him as he laid back down and then rolled, miraculously staying connected to her, and laid her out back on her back. Rey groaned as his thrust went much deeper than she had managed, and he was able to go faster than she was. Rey threw her head back on the pillow as he started fucking her in earnest like she had intended this to be, but even this speeding up had more meaning behind it than she had thought it would. Maybe it was uncharitable of her, but she hadn’t been sure she believed him when he said he loved her. How could he love her when no one else did?

But as he looked into her eyes while he moved in her, it was clear that he did love her. He did care about her, and he wanted her. Genuinely wanted her. It was more than anyone had given her. She loved Rose, but Rose wasn’t like this with her. Ben was like this with her and she thought that him like  _ this, _ forever, would be perfect.

Ben sat up while he sped up again, resting his hands on her knees while he fucked her and she didn't have any room for thought anymore. Rey’s hands moved to his wrists where they rested on her and she gripped him tightly as her head rolled back. She could feel the way her cunt was starting to flutter around him. She was getting closer, but this was just so good, she didn’t want to fall over the edge yet. She wanted to keep feeling the way his cock dragged and pushed inside her. The way the shape of him seemed to be made for her, sliding against all the places inside of her that begged for his touch. 

She  _ never _ wanted this to end.

Ben looked down at her, like he was looking into her soul, her mind, and maybe he was because he looked at her and licked his lips before he moved a hand from her knee to her clit and rolled it around under his thumb. Rey groaned and she felt something building in her. Something stronger, more powerful than her orgasm, which was fast on the heels of this...power?

Ben licked his lips again. “Say it,” he whispered. “It’s in your mind, just say it.”

Rey blinked up at him, her fingers digging hard into the wrist still at her knee. “I don’t know how,” she murmured back, a little hiccup on the end of her words as tears of reaction prickled in her eyes.

“You do,” he said, rolling her clit around more urgently. “Hurry. Say it.”

The moment was here. The moment when everything was poised, ready to crash over her. “I...I want...” Oh, she was so clumsy at this, what was it she was trying to say??

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I want it, too.”

She nodded and to the staccato slap of their bodies together she said “I want to be with you until I die, and then I want you to be free...” And she moaned, the sound crescendoing into a scream, as came harder than ever in her life. Her one hand was tangled in the sheets and tore at them while the other around his wrists drew blood. Ben turned his hand in her grip and slid his nail across her wrist and that sharp sting made her think that he’d cut her and as her body clamped down on him he gave a shout and cried out, “I accept, freely!” And then she could feel him slam into her once, twice more and then he was twitching inside her body and something warmer than him seemed to be filling her even was his spend filled her and somehow, in a manner that had never happened to her before, she rolled into another orgasm and her body milked him as he felt her whole body seize up.

After what seemed like a century, Rey came back down from her orgasm to feel some of Ben’s considerable body weight on top of her and she opened her eyes to see his dilated eyes slowly constrict back into their slit pupil she was starting to get used to. “What did we just do?” she asked breathily.

Ben ran a finger along her cheek with one finger as his eyes moved back and forth between hers. “We formed a contract,” he said, “a strong one.” He smiled softly. “And you found a way for me to be free from the family contract. Though I’d like to put it off for a very, very long time if you don’t mind.”

Rey couldn’t help the little chuckle that rolled out of her and when she realized that he was holding one of her hands and she squeezed it while the other moved to his face like his on hers and she caressed his cheek with her thumb. “I’ll try my best,” and despite her best efforts, the tears that had pricked her eyes fell into the shadows of her hair and she gave him a watery smile. “I love you.”

Ben smiled and kissed her tears away, then before he moved to her mouth he whispered, “I love you, too,” before he kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors! Kudos are the moon at night, comments are the stars, and MOAR is the star dust that makes up all of us~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben encounter Snoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I finally made it!!!!! XD Okay, in all honesty, this was a very, very long week. I really, really appreciate everyone's patience while I get through this stuff, but we should be able to get back on schedule now that things are finished right on through to the end. Yey~! I can't 100% promise, but I will do my best. This last month has been really, really hard, so I my falter, but I'm going to do my best.
> 
> That being said, wah~! We're coming to the end! Just a few more chapters!
> 
> This chapter is super heavy magic influenced. Basically, I have made ALLLLL of this up. None of what goes on with the magic in this chapter has any baring on magic in reality. So I basically did what I wanted. XD
> 
> CW/TW: There is a little bit of descriptive violence

Rey stared down dubiously at the steaming cauldron and the silver chalice that sat full in front of it. She swallowed thickly and looked over at Ben who sat, naked in the chair next to her, his tail twitching back and forth so that it peaked over each shoulder as it moved. Rey was just as naked because apparently that helped magic?

Ben had gone so far and ritualistically bathe her, at least as best he could in a shower. So now she stood in front of some kind of witch's brew with her hair curling wetly around her shoulders while she shivered in the cool air of her dining room, surrounded by a circle of candles and black salt. Rey swallowed again as Ben nodded at her.

“So I drink this, then pour the rest into the jar?”

Ben nodded. “And then you knot the ribbon, like I showed you, and you say whatever words come to you. Then you put it all in the jar, put the lid on and seal it all with wax.”

Rey took a deep breath and looked over at the candle that burned on the table next to her in the southern position. “What are you going to be doing?” she asked.

“I’ll be acting as your anchor in case Snoke senses you and tries something. That’s my job as a familiar.”

She turned back to him. “To act as an anchor?”

Ben nodded. “Among other things. I can be a power source as well. That’s how Sheev used me. I have access to the abyss, so I can draw energy from there easily where it might not be entirely possible for a human.”

Rey licked her lips and looked back down at the chalice, nodding and psyching herself up. “Alright. I can do this. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I can do this.,”

She grimaced and put her hand out to Ben. Ben took it immediately, engulfing it in both of his hands. “That’s the beauty of magic,” he said, smiling gently when she turned to look at him. “You don’t have to know what you’re doing, only that you believe it’s going to work,”

Rey nodded as she smiled back at him. Ben continued to smile and since she didn’t take her hand back, he didn’t let it go. Rey looked back at the chalice once more and picked it up. Shooting it back as quickly as she could manage. It was absolutely the most vile thing she’d ever put in her mouth, and she had sucked some questionable cock in the past. She swallowed it down quickly and let it settle like a stone in her stomach before she continued.

Ben freed his hand to pass her a newly opened water bottle. Blessed water before they had started. Rey tossed it back just as quickly, washing it down and drowning out the taste and vinegar and  _ stuff _ . When the bottle was empty and she handed it back to him and he placed it in the little receptacle they had set up for all the excess things that they were going to have to find a place to burn or cleanse later.

Rey took a deep breath and dipped the ribbon into the cauldron. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything that belonged to Snoke personally, but Rey had some of Rose’s clothing and they were going to need it to unbind Rose from Snoke first anyway, so might as well use it for this. The ribbon had come from the decorative belt from the dress, which they had already cut in half. While the one half of the ribbon soaked in the concoction in the cauldron Rey lifted the other ribbon and the knife in her hand and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say.

“I unbind you, Rose Tico, and surround you in light,” she intoned as she slid the knife gently against the ribbon, severing a few threads from the warp and weft. “I unbind you and surround you in the love.” She slid the knife again. “I unbind you and surround you in protection.” 

.

Rey repeated these three sentences over three times and each time a little more of the ribbon cut away. Strangely, she noticed that the farther along in the cutting she got, the fewer threads cut and she had to use more pressure until, at the final intonation, she’d had to tear the knife through the last few threads. There was a pop in her ears like she suddenly realized that she’d slowly gone up a hill and now the pressure was finally relieving itself.

Rey yelped as the two halves of ribbon in her hand started singeing and she dropped them both onto the table where they shriveled up like someone had taken a lighter to it until they were nothing more than a couple of scourged balls of nothing smoking a little on the table.

Ben was grimacing when she looked at him. “I think he’s going to notice that,” he said softly. “Be ready.”

Rey nodded and moved back to the cauldron where the other ribbon was soaking. Strangely as she reached in to fish it out, it seemed to...drag  _ itself  _ out of the miasma of sludge and into her hand. It was a little creepy to see it just rise and slither into her hand with no apparent help. Rey shook her head and shrugged as she pulled it out.

Now this was the part Ben had said would be critical. This was the part where she was going to have to fly by the seat of her pants--pants she wasn’t wearing--and just do what felt natural to her. So Rey glanced over at the two little balls of nothing on the table and grabbed them up, after spreading the soaked ribbon out flat. She placed the two balls of nothing on the center of the wide ribbon, then folded the edges around the scorched balls before tying the ribbon around them in the center.

“I bind you Snoke, from harming others, from using others, from depleting others.” She went a little way down one side of the ribbon and tied another knot, when she thought she heard a voice. She looked around, then at Ben. 

Ben shook his head. “Don’t listen. Keep going.”

Rey swallowed thickly, nodding as she tied the next knot. “I bind you, Snoke, from lying to others, from binding to others, from drawing from others.”

She moved down to the opposite length from the center knot and she thought she could hear a low-level growl. She looked around but didn’t see anything. Ben looked straight at her and nodded encouragement. Rey nodded back and continued.

“I bind you, Snoke, from the destruction of others, from the abuse of others, from the annihilation of others.” She tied the third knot and now she knew she was hearing a growl.

“Ignore it,” Ben said again. “You’re in a Circle. It can’t harm you.”

Rey looked in the direction she noticed Ben was looking in now and saw...something forming in her living room. An outline, or a ghost of something. She hastily turned away because it was growing more solid and she didn’t want to see it.

She had six more knots before she was done with this ribbon and so she moved on. She bound Snoke from siphoning others, targeting others, leading others on, and so she went until at last the final knot was tied. She smiled and turned to look at Ben only to look into the Cheshire smile of dozens of discolored, dripping teeth that were as long as pencils and fit together perfectly like a puzzle as it opened and closed its mouth. Rey screamed and took a step back, knocking over a chair. Ben reached out and grabbed her.

“It  _ can’t _ reach you,” he repeated. “It’s just trying to scare you into breaking the Circle so it  _ can  _ get to you.”

Rey shivered a little, then realized it wasn’t shivering it was quivering, as in quivering in fear. “What is it?” she asked hoarsely.

Ben looked back at it as he continued to hold her hand. “It’s an abyssal worm. It eats souls and takes them to the abyssal plains”

“That’s not a good thing, is it?” she asked.

Ben shook his head. “No it’s not. Especially if you don’t belong there, like humans.”

Rey nodded. “Okay, so what do we do?”

Ben turned back to look at her. “You keep going. Like I said, it can’t get at you. There is nothing it can do inside this Circle.”

Rey nodded again and went back to the ribbon. Now was time to put it in the silver-lined jar. Rey slowly coiled the ribbon until she bounded the ends together and dropped it into the jar. She reached for the ladle and dipped it into the potion before pulling it out and pouring the contents into the jar.

“Even as you have destroyed lives, let this mirror reflect it back.” Another ladle. “Even as you have used stolen power, let this mirror reflect it back.” A third. “Even as you have perverted magic, let this mirror reflect it back.”

Quickly Rey dropped the lid on it and locked it in place. There was a sealing gasket in the lit of the jar, but they needed to seal it more than that. Rey grabbed the candle in the South and tilted the jar sideways as she began to pour the wax over the edges. For long moments it seemed like the wax wouldn’t lay a good seal but then the layers started to solidify and it was working.

Finally, the last drop of wax fell and there was another pop in her ears, this one that almost sounded like a vacuum sucking the air out of her brain very quickly, and then it seemed to be over. Rey looked up to smile at Ben, but the worm was still there and now it was just on the other side of the table from her, staring at her with the eyeless face that was full of teeth and Rey yelped again.

  
“It’s alright. It’ll go away in a minute once it can’t feed off Snoke anymore,” he tried the say calmly,

But Rey had already let go of the jar and it was hurtling to the floor. Ben dove for it and Rey backed away from the thing, tripping over the chair she’d knocked over before. She went down hard, knocking the breath out of her lungs as she moved her hands to try and push herself up. Grit bit into her palms and she looked down to see that not only was she partially outside of the circle, but that the circle was irrevocably broken.

“Rey!”

Rey turned and looked up and the last thing she saw was teeth opening and coming for her..

~:||:~

_ :Rey...: _

Something rough and wet moved against Rey’s hand and she flicked it away. It felt kind of gross.

_ :Rey, wake up.: _

The rough, wet thing moved up to her forearm and Rey jerked her arm away from it. It was such a large patch that touched her skin, it freaked her out on a deep, psychological level. She rolled to keep it from touching her again and opened her eyes to look at whatever it was. She came nose to nose with a panther. A sleek, black panther with huge incisors that were inches from her face.

Rey yelped and scrambled back, crab walking to get away from the big cat.

_ :Rey, calm down, it’s me.: _

She blinked at it. She heard the voice, knew it was coming from the panther, but it had not moved its mouth. How weird was it that she was more disturbed by the fact that the cat talked without moving its mouth than the fact that the cat was talking!?

_ :Who is me?: _ she asked. And it took her a long moment to realize that she hadn’t opened her mouth either.  _ :W-what the hell is going on here?!: _

The panther sat back on its haunches as it looked back at her serenely.  _ :Me is Ben. Here is the abyssal plains.: _

On a normal day, Rey wouldn’t have believed a word this cat “said” but it had been a long eventful day and the last thing she remembered seeing was a teeth monster coming at her, so seeing a large black cat claim to be Ben was not that bad on the what-the-fuck meter. 

_ :Oh,: _ she said ingenuously.

The panther lowered his head.  _ :The Circle broke and I couldn’t get to you before the abyssal worm did. It brought you here and I followed.: _

Rey nodded, moving forward on her knees to get at Ben.  _ :Okay. So how do we get out of here?: _

The cat shook his head in a strangely human gesture and she could swear that he shrugged.  _ :I should have already been able to bring you back, but I can’t. You’re stuck here for some reason I can’t figure out. There’s some kind of mirror around you. I’m afraid...you might have been caught up in the spell you were doing.: _

Rey blinked and looked around herself. They were surrounded in swirls of color, all swimming around like the storms of a gas planet, or like a nebula as through the colors, occasionally there was the shine of silver that looked like light. If she looked through the swirls hard enough, she could almost make out their reflections. Rey blinked before turning back to Ben.

_ :Are you saying we’re inside the jar?: _

He shook his head again.  _ :Not exactly. We’re in a sort of pocket universe created inside the jar when it was sealed up. We’re basically trapped in here the way we had hoped to trap Snoke.: _

Rey looked around again.  _ :Then where is Snoke?: _

The cat licked it’s cops and turned his head back and forth sensuously. _:I’d like to know that myself.:_

Rey took a deep breath, taking another look around her to see if she could find an end to this world that she found herself in but couldn’t. She stood, looking to see if there was any kind of depth she could see and it just seemed like endless color with her reflection scattered throughout it, then covered again by another swirl of color.

_ :He has to be in here somewhere, right? Like he has to be trapped in here. That’s how the spell worked.: _

Ben nodded, standing and coming to her side.  _ :That’s how it should have worked, yes. But there is no “space” in here as it were. It’s basically a limbo if you’re not an abyssal being.: _

_ :Which I’m not. Are you?: _

Ben shook his feline head.  _ :No, I’m not. At least not this plain. I’ve been here, but I’ve always had a tether to come back to. You are my tether so I’m essentially stuck here with you.: _

Rey blinked at him.  _ :Well that’s less than good news than I had hoped for.: _

The cat shrugged again.  _ :It’s the truth.: _

Rey nodded.  _ :Alright, so that means I need to get us out of here?: _

_ :That would be how it works, yes.: _

Rey took a deep breath and looked around again, thinking fast. They were in a magical plain. That means that she was surrounded by magic itself, right? If she was surrounded by magic, and she was a witch, that meant that she could use it to do what she wanted, right? She said as much to Ben.

Ben looked at her, his eyes dilating a little and his eyes lowering a bit as he thought.  _ :Ah...well you’re not wrong,: _ he said slowly.  _ :I’ve never seen anyone look at it like that before....: _

Rey tilted her head.  _ :Is that because it’s can’t be done or because no one has ever tried it before?: _

Ben’s tongue slipped out and ran over his whiskers.  _ :It would probably be inaccurate to say no one has ever done it before. I don’t know of anyone who has, but I’ve only ever been bound to traditionally trained witches. I haven’t had experience with witches that didn’t know what they were.: _

Rey nodded.  _ :So that’s not a no. I could probably do what I wanted with the energy around me right?: _

_ :Uh...yes?: _

Rey smirked at him and reached out to scratch behind his ears which caused his eyes to close to slits and a purr to rumble out of him. That was a rush. It was a very loud, and when he pressed into her legs, a very reverberating purr. She knelt down next to him and kissed his nose.  _ :Don’t worry Ben. I’m going to figure out how to get out of this and then we’re going to be happy together, okay?: _

Ben’s eyes opened wide and stared at her for a moment, then she saw the lines of his lips curled up in a feline smile and he nodded, licking at her cheek.  _ :Okay.: _

Rey smiled and stood again and looked around as she kept scratching behind Ben’s ears as she wracked her brain for every fantasy novel she ever read growing up. This wasn’t a novel, but it was the only basis of comparison she had, and who said magic didn’t work the way it did in novels?

If there was magic all around her, she could gather that and do what she wanted with it, she thought. There was no limit to what she could do with it except her own imagination. It was basically just energy. Gather enough energy and she could form it into what she wanted. Like a spear. She looked at the far distance that seemed to show her reflection. If she was in a mirror, that probably meant that anything she threw at the mirror would just be reflected back at her. That had sort of been the point in binding Snoke so that he couldn’t get out of it when his powers were bound.

But, if she could find a weak spot in the spell, she could make it fine-pointed to pierce that weak spot right? And there had to be a weak spot but this whole thing had been a knot, the ends tied. A cord was weaker where it was tied than where it was woven together.

_ :How was it that Snoke wouldn’t be able to do what I am trying to do?:  _ she asked. _ :Would all of this magic be here for him to work with?: _

_ :No, sweetheart. This is the abyss inside the jar. Snoke would be bound without access to the magics around him.: _

Rey nodded.  _ :But because we’re not bound we have access to it?: _

Ben nodded again.  _ :Correct.: _

_ :So if Snoke is here, he shouldn’t have access to all of this: _

Ben nodded.  _ :Also correct.: _

Rey nibbled on her lip.  _ :What if I had to unbind him in order to get us out of here?: _

_ :What?: _

Rey took a deep breath.  _ :We are locked in here with him even if we do have access to the magic, but we are surrounded by a mirror. Anything I throw at it is going to bounce right off until I shatter it, right?: _

Ben tilted his head as he considered her.  _ :That...sounds logical. If you were to throw enough magic at the mirror to break it fine, but if it wasn’t enough, then it might be reflected back at us and then harm us.: _

Rey nodded.  _ :So the only way to get out of here it to basically open it back up.: _

_ :But then Snoke would be free as well.: _

_ :Magic always comes with a price.: _

Ben narrowed his eyes at her and she thought it was in confusion.

She shook her head.  _ :TV show quote. No cats so you wouldn’t know it.: _

She heard Ben’s softy, rumbling chuckle in her mind and it made her feel warm.  _ :Fair enough,:  _ he said.  _ :So do you have a plan?: _

Rey nodded.  _ :I think so.:  _ She drew in magic toward herself, surrounding them in a cloud that was growing thicker. She couldn’t see the knot she tied with her “eyes” but she could sense it in her mind and she readied the “shear” that she was going to use to cut the edges open with. It was an oversight that if she couldn’t “see” the knot, she couldn’t see Snoke either.

She gathered all the magic in her and jabbed at the knot. It unraveled with a startling pop, much like the ones she’d felt when tying it and the next instant, she was down, her hand gripping her gut. She fell on her ass, then onto her back, trying to look down at the searing pain she grabbed at. In her hand, she gripped....light. A dark, sullen red light that crackled angrily around her fingers and in her stomach.

_ :Rey!: _

She saw Ben descending on her and just behind him, the scared-faced Freddy Krueger looking guy, bearing down on the both of them, another of those red lightning daggers in his hand, aimed for Ben. Rey gathered what magical energy she could and shot it at him, throwing her hand out to give her something to focus on. From the crackling red lighting that seemed to drip from her hand, frighteningly blood-like, came a blueish purple lighting and she slammed it into Snoke, knocking him away from both of them. But it made her feel spent and she dropped her hand, too wearing to keep holding it up.

She had done it. Must have done it. All she could see was the smoke curling from his chest to mix with the swirling of magic around them.

_ :Rey! Use me! Quickly, use me!: _

Rey blinked at him.  _ :What?: _

_ :Use me! Take energy from me to heal yourself!: _

_ :I...I can’t. I can’t do that to you.: _

_ :Do it! It’s what I was made for. It’s why I‘m bound to you.: _

Rey smiled at him, reaching out when a hand that shook to grip at his fur.  _ :No Ben. That’s not what you’re bound to me for. I don’t use you. I love you.: _

_ :Goddammit, Rey, do not do that. Don’t act like it’s better to sacrifice yourself for morality than to just use me for my function and heal yourself. That’s stupid and you’re not stupid.: _

_ :But it is better...: _

Ben turned his head and nipped at her.  _ :It’s not, it’s stupid. Would you not use me if I was a paramedic? Do it!: _

Well that made sense, didn’t it. A paramedic was a healer by function. They just used tools and supplies. Ben was the same, right? But...god it was hard to think now.

_ :I don’t know...:  _ she said, her eyes drooping.

_ :No, no, no, no, don’t you dare!:  _ Ben snuffled at her hand, tipping his nose under it until her hand was on his head.  _ :Don’t you fucking dare, just do it. Use me and we can talk about the morality of it later. I promise.: _

Rey blinked up at him. _ :I don’t think I can.: _

He turned his head and nipped at her arm.  _ :Yes you can. Just do it. You figured everything else out to this point, you can figure this out, too.: _

Rey blinked a few times, yeah. She could do this. She just needed a little boost to get her going so she could concentrate on what she was doing. She reached out and drew in some of the magic around her, giving her that little bit of energy she needed to be able to think clearly and she smiled up at him as she gripped the scruff on his neck.

And just behind his head was Snoke, his hand raised again over his head as he once again held red lighting in his hand, poised to drop it down on Ben. Rey’s eyes widened and she didn’t think, just gathered all the magic she could to her and rolled into the big cat, getting him just out of the way of the red lightning and getting her self just  _ in _ the way.

_ :Wha-Rey!: _

_ :Fuck!:  _ That had been a different voice from Ben’s, this one gravelly and slick like oil washing up on a rocky shore.  _ :Stupid bitch!: _

And then there was a scream and suddenly the scarred face of nightmares was right in front of hers and around his throat was the maw of a black panther, lips peeled back in a snarl as his jaw tightened around the spine in his mouth.

_ :Ben...:  _ she whispered.

Those lips peeled back farther as the teeth tightened and the neck snapped in his mouth. All tone left Snoke’s face and Rey couldn’t find it in herself to be upset. As far as she was concerned, this man wasn’t human. Not the way that Ben was human to her. The body didn’t matter. It was who moved in the body and Ben was so much more human than this monster. Rey moved her eyes from him, not worthy of her thoughts.

She smiled at Ben and reached out, sliding her fingers through his fur, reveling at its softness. Just like when he was human and his hair fell over her fingers in waves.  _ :You’re so soft, Benji,:  _ she said quietly.

The cat seemed to flinch at the name. _ :Rey, look at me. I need you to do what you were doing before. I need to you to open up and use....: _

Rey closed her eyes and fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, this is where we are getting into the TEMP character death. I promise, it's temporary~! If you've read anything else I've written you know I couldn't possibly write an unhappy ending if I tried. Prolly a hold over from my romance noveling days. Lol. For srs though, it will get a little darker before it gets better, but it will end happily~!
> 
> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudo make us smile, comments make us grin, and MOAR makes us ecstatic~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tries to get back to Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Mental health going to shit sucks, right? >_>
> 
> There's not really anything I can say beyond that, and I'm sorry this has taken so long to get this out. My brain just wasn't having any of it. But today...things are better today. It was a good day despite, just...everything. *gestures around vaguely* I got to spend a lot of time with my family and I think that healed a lot of shit that's gone on this week and gave me the boost I needed to get this out.
> 
> And I am planning on trying to reply to comments as soon as I post this. Comments are hard for me rn because it's just hard to take the wonderful compliments when I feel the way I do rn. But I'm gonna do it anyway, 'cause ya'll deserve to be thanked properly for your lovely words.
> 
> Noooow that that's all out of the way (prolly TMI, but I'm nothing if not transparent af), I really really enjoyed writing this chapter. It felt very emotional for me, a little angsty but ultimately hopeful. I hope you all enjoy it as much~!

Rey felt like she was bathing in tepid water. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t warm either, and it wasn’t exactly comfortable. It just was. It felt like what she expected the color grey to feel like. A whole lot of nothing in particular. Whatever it was, she felt adrift, unconnected to anything. Almost a sensory deprivation, except she wasn’t going insane. Just very...apathetic. She didn’t care much about anything really. Not even the fact that she didn’t care about anything. She had no idea how long she drifted like that, didn’t care how long it was. It was just...nothing.

_ Rey _

Rey’s eye twitched. That was odd. That felt suspiciously like a tug. Nothing should be tugging her. She was floating in grey and there was nothing that should be tugging at her. She should just be laying there, untouched until her consciousness fell into entropy and she just stopped existing. That was the best she could hope for from the grey, if she cared enough to hope for anything. Which she didn’t.

_ Please, Rey... _

Rey’s eyes fluttered open as she felt the tug again, stronger. She sat up from the nothing she floated in, defying all laws of physics. She looked around, wondering where the sound was coming from. There was still grey all around her and it was like a fog so the sounds came at her from odd places in the grey. Where was it coming from so she could stop it and go back to being nothing....

There...off in the distance, a lighter space of grey against the unending expanse of grey. Rey blinked and stood, walking toward the lighter grey. The sooner she could be done with this then sooner she could drift away, a bother to no one any longer.

Because that was the problem, ultimately, wasn’t it? Her? Why had she tried so hard before? Why had she thought she was allowed to take up that kind of space? Deep down, she knew. She knew that she was just taking up air. Wherever she was now, she could be honest, really honest about that. She was just...unnecessary.

But even as she got closer, the tugging felt stronger and she felt it in her gut, pulling her more strongly in the direction of the voice that was clearly calling her name and...suddenly she was so tired. Not in the way she had sunk into the grey of the limbo she was in, but tired in the weight of her whole life weighing down on her. The weight of every decision she’d ever made, the loss of every person. It was hard to breathe.

Then in a sudden explosion that made her cry out and cover her head. For one moment she was that small child again. The one that hid under the cabinet, wishing and wishing and wishing that the fire would go away, that mommy and daddy would come get her, that they would remember her, that they would come find her. But they never did. No one ever did. No one ever looked for her....

She turned, she needed to get away, she needed to go back to the place where she didn’t feel anything, where nothing hurt, where no one chose their addiction over her, where no one called her frigid, or lied to her to get her into bed, or leave her waiting in a restaurant with no intention of showing up because it was funny. No, she didn’t need any of that in her life. No, no, no, no!

Something grabbed her and she struggled. No, not grabbed, pulled. It tugged. Harder and harder it pulled and she struggled hard and harder. She felt the cord pulling, felt it stretching under the tension.

_ :Rey, please!: _

_ :No!: _

And the thread snapped. Everything fell into darkness. Even the greyness that had surrounded her was gone. It was just dark. She turned around herself, trying to figure out what had happened. Something had snapped and the tugging was gone. What had it been in the first place...?

Wait...what was....? There! What was that? Rey peered at what seemed to be a glowing ribbon. How curious was that? A glowing ribbon. And where had it come from? Rey looked around again, looking for a light source and then for some reason, felt the need to look down. She blinked in astonishment. The remains of a silver, glowing ribbon was slowly losing its light as it hung from her gut. How...odd.

_ :Oh...god, no...Rey, don’t leave me alone...p-please....: _

Rey blinked and looked up, back toward the retreating glowing ribbon. How...

_ Rey... _

Very...

_ Please! _

Odd...

_...ey.... _

Panic swelled in her chest. A panic she couldn’t put a name to. It wasn’t the same panic that had just consumed her. The panic that came with the fear of abandonment that she’d experienced her whole life. That panic was real, and familiar and...

Familiar....

_...ey.... _

_ :...Ben....: _

_...y.... _

_ :Ben!: _

Rey ran. Faster, harder, breathless, she raced after that glowing little ribbon. It felt like she was never going to reach it. It was so far away, but she  _ was _ gaining, she was! She knew she was. She had to. She had to get back to Ben. She knew this because she realized what the ribbon was. The one that had once been connected to to her belly. That was her  _ life. _ It was her life and if she let it go...she let Ben go. And she couldn’t let him go. She’d promised to be with him forever. She wasn’t going to let him go. Not him. Not the one who  _ wanted _ her. 

Faster and faster she ran. She lowered her body so she could run faster. Her heart pounded and her lungs burned but she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t slow down, she had to catch the ribbon. But her legs ached and she had already had her energy drained away in the fight with Snoke.

_ :No. No, no, no, not like this!: _

She kept going, running, she ignored her body, pushed it harder. This place wasn’t a physical place, right? She wasn’t really getting tired, right?. She only  _ thought _ she was getting tired. She wasn’t. She could ignore what her “body” was telling her. She might be draining energy, but she wasn’t draining strength. She would not lose him. The ribbon was so close now, just a few feet from her. She leaned down, reaching, stretching her fingers out, almost touching....

Rey’s head slammed into a wall and she saw stars. Despite her belief that this wasn’t real, that  _ felt  _ fucking real. She tumbled and knocked her whole body into the invisible wall. The breath left her lungs, and she gulped, trying to suck in air into lungs that had been shocked into not working. Her diaphragm was frozen and she just couldn't’ get air.

_ This isn’t physical, she _ reminded herself.  _ There is nothing physical here. Get up. Get. Up! _

In spite of her lack of air, in spite of her shaking limbs, Rey pushed herself up through sheer force of will, turning so that she could put her hand on the invisible wall. She looked through it, trying to see where the ribbon had gone. She watched as the grey beyond her wall cleared like fog in the morning sun and there he was...there was Ben.

He sat back against the wall, her limp body next to him on one side, her phone on the other. His hands covered his face as he rocked back and forth. His tail lay limp next to him, twitching haphazardly but never leaving the floor. She couldn’t hear him, but she saw his shoulders shake. Tears pricked at her eyes.

Rey slammed her fist against the wall and screamed.  _ :Ben! Ben! Ben! Look at me! I’m right here! Ben!: _ Each scream became more hoarse than the last, each more shaky, then each ending on a sob. 

Hot tears fell down her face as she watched him gather her body into his arms. Her head flopped around and he looked away from it like he couldn’t handle looking in her wide eyes. His cheeks were wet, and he pulled her against his chest, her head flopping forward on his shoulder. Her arms splayed out, bending and straightening at weird angles as he moved.

_ :Ben!: _ she sobbed.  _ :I’m right here. I’m right here, look at me....:  _ She pounded and pounded against the wall as Ben buried his face in her chest and his whole body shook, wracking in sobs she couldn’t hear. She pounded and pounded on the wall, over and over again, beating her hands against it until they were coming away wet, she looked up at them and saw them bloody and raw.

A tiny glowing fragment caught her eye and she looked back through the invisible wall. There, slithering against the ground like the broken off tail of a lizard as the ribbon. As she watched with writhed and wiggled until is just stopped. And the the little bit of glow that was still in it faded and died.

Rey’s eyes went wide as she felt a pop...the the knot that kept her bound to her own body...then a second...the knot that kept Ben bound to her and she watched Ben collapse over her body, watched his gut wrenching screams and sobbing as he held her to him, dragging her into his lap. He shook his head as he cried, his lips moving over and over again in words she could hear, sobs that broke her heart more because she couldn’t hear them. She could only see his raw, loss and it just seemed obscene, something that shouldn’t be watching without being seen, something so disrespectful of this moment of his loss. Her loss. Their loss.

_ :It’s time to go, Rey.: _

Rey’s head whipped around and she put her back against the wall. A striking man stood just a few feet from her. He was dressed in fine, black slacks, and a black dress sure that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was pale, just as fair as Ben, though his eyes were light where Ben’s were dark. With his fair complexion came with red hair and he stood a little stiffly, though his expression was heartbreakingly sad.

Rey shook her head.  _ :No. No, I’m not going anywhere.: _

The man sighed and put his hands out entreatingly.  _ :Rey, you can’t stay here. You’ll waste away. There isn’t anything here for you anymore.: _

Rey shook her head stubbornly.  _ :He’s here. I’m staying with him.: _

The man looked over her shoulder and his eyes softened further.  _ :Rey, he can’t see you. Only you can see him. You’ll go mad watching him.: _

Rey shook her head again. : _ I’m staying. Here.: _

The man pressed his lips together.  _ :I can make you come with me.: _

_ :You’ll have a hell of a fight.: _

He shook his head.  _ :No, Rey. I won’t. There isn’t anything you can do that would affect me. You would just be wasting your energy. I’m not part of this realm of magic. I come from a place outside of this one, and this one can’t affect me. You couldn’t do a thing.: _

He took a step toward her, and she scrambled up to her feet, shaking her head, keeping her back against the wall and she put out warding hands.  _ :No, no, no, please don’t make me leave him! Don’t make me go. I can’t go. I can’t go anywhere. I  _ have _ to be with him, don’t take me away from him!: _

The man took another step.

“ _ Please!: _ she screamed, her throat feeling raw. : _ Please, don’t do this!: _

He was within arms reach now and Rey curled in on herself, turning sideways, lifting a leg like she was guarding her gut while her arms went over her head. : _ No, no, no, no, please please, no, please no!: _ Over and over she begged, pleaded, her voice haggard as fear of being torn from Ben and her sobs and cries.

Rey opened her eyes just long enough to see his hand reaching for her...but then he stopped. She moved her arms a little to see his face. His light eyes weren’t on her, they were over her head, and just as she started to look behind her to see what he was looking at, she felt a buzz or maybe a zap go through her and it jolted her.

Rey swung around and saw that EMS had arrived. They had pulled her body from Ben’s arms and laid it out flat. There were pads stuck all over, her arms, her legs, her abdomen, her naked chest and a box next to her. One paramedic was pumping hard against her chest while another held a mask over her face. It was connected to a bladder which the paramedic squeezed at intervals. Yet another paramedic had taken Ben to the side and was talking to him. Ben had gotten his duster on, though it was clear he was still naked under it, and she could just make out the tip of his tail twitching in agitation. He looked dejected, like he already knew the outcome and its inevitability.

Rey hit her fist against the wall again as both paramedics pulled their hands away. She wanted to scream at them to keep her body alive until she could get back to it. And then she felt the buzzing zap go through her again while she watched her body jump and convulse like frog legs in bio 101. That was...macabre.

This time when the buzz went through her though, she heard the tiniest crack from the wall. Sher turned to look at the man.  _ :They’re going to bring me back,:  _ she said with certainty.

He nodded.  _ :They are going to bring your body back,: _ he said with as much certainty.  _ :That doesn’t mean you’re going to be exactly alive.: _

Rey furrowed her brow.  _ :What do you mean?: _

_ :Rey, you’ve been dead for twelve minutes and Ben wasn’t doing CPR. I’m not certain he knows how. It took paramedics eight minutes to get to you. It took them two minutes to get the leads on and the AED on you. Even with the compressions, your brain didn’t get oxygen for eight minutes.: _

Rey shook her head.  _ :So what?: _ The buzz went through her again, stronger this time and she felt the wall against her back shudder.

_ :It means if you go back, it’s going to be to a brain dead body. You’ll be trapped in a body that’s already dead.: _

Rey shook her head.  _ :I don't’ believe that.: _

The man shook his head.  _ :Rey, this doesn’t work like in the stories. When you’re dead, you’re dead. There’s nothing that can bring you back.: _

_ :There are miracles.: _

The man nodded.  _ :There are, but they are few and far between and require a certain amount of intervention.: _

Rey smiled slowly.  _ :Like witchcraft?: _

She saw the man’s lips twitch but he was too dignified to smile.  _ :Yes. Possibly. Are you willing to bet on that?: _

Rey felt the buzz go through her again, this time she grunted because it fucking hurt, and the wall behind her tinkled that splintering glass.

_ :Yes.: _

He tilted his head. Not accusing, or judgmental, or like he thought she was making the wrong decision. It was...curious.  _ :How can you be so sure?: _

Rey felt a final jolt go through her body and felt the wall give way. She smiled at the man.  _ :Magic.: _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudos are like food, comments are like water and MOAR is the very air we breathe!
> 
> Join me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)~!
> 
> And if you wanna try another fantasy fic I've written [To Die On Ogygia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965724/chapters/63120901) is a Percy Jackson universe fusion fic you might enjoy~!
> 
> One last note, I'm gonna try and get the last two chapters out this weekend. Just...because. ^_^ Have a lovely holiday season~!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey wakes up to Ben again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *VIBRATING* GUYS!! GUIS!!!! This is it, we're down to the wire! Just this chapter and the epilogue, which will be posted, IMMEDIATELY after posting this one. Yey~! Thank you so much for sticking with me this long~!
> 
> CW/TW: We are back in the hospital and there's some nursy and doctor interaction, all very hospital-y stuff going on.
> 
> Please enjoy~!

It was the purring that woke her. It reverberated through her body like a damn vibrating massage chair at the nail salon. She stirred a little and it stopped for a moment before starting again, doubling down on volume and intensity. She felt all parts of her tingling, and not in a nice, shivery way, but in a painful, her entire body had fallen asleep and now it was waking up and oh  _ god _ it hurt, kinda way. Rey winced and felt her fingers twitch and she swallowed convulsively.

“Rey...?”

She couldn’t open her eyes yet, they were still too heavy, but she managed a grunt. A hand tightened on her shoulder and then the warm vibrating was gone and she felt a little more bereft than she thought she would. There was the sound of a...a button being depressed? Maybe? It would make sense. If Ben had been the one who had just woken from what was clearly a coma, she’d be stabbing the damn call button like her life depended on it.

Ben...

Rey forced her eyes open. They didn’t want to cooperate, but dammit, she was going to make sure the first thing she saw was Ben. After a few moments of bargaining, and then threatening that meant basically nothing, her lids finally slid back and Ben stood there in his slacks and his button up and his duster, staring at her as he held the call button down with his thumb. She saw his eyes light up when he saw hers were open and when she shakily lifted her tingling hand, ben dropped the call button to take hers up.

“Come...back....” she said, wondering how long it had been since she died.

Ben’s hands gently cradled her jaw, and he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. “I’m right here, Sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

Rey smiled against his lips and did her best to kiss him back. “Love...you,” she managed.

“I love you, too,” he said fervently. “I love you so much.”

Just then the door swung open and a nurse bustled in. “Alright, Mr. Johnson.. Step back please, let me get in there and check her vitals.”

Ben gave her one last kissed before he drew away. Rey’s hand tried to chase after his and he grabbed it and kissed her knuckles, saying, “I’m right here. I’ll be right over here. Right where you can see me.”

She nodded clumsily and turned back to the nurse. Wait...Mr. Johnson?

Rey blinked up as a pen light shined in her eyes. The nurse, a Maz K. according to her badge, smiled at her. “How are you feeling Mrs. Johnson?”

Rey blinked again. Mrs? What the hell? How did she miss her own wedding? Oh, right. Dead.

Rey licked her lips, trying to get some moisture into her mouth. “I feel...like shit,” she admitted.

The little nurse’s smile broadened as she reached up and tapped the screen of the BP monitor. The cuff on her arm started whirring and tightening.

“That sounds about right. As I understand it, you were mostly dead for a minute there.”

Rey gave a weak snicker. “Only mostly? Not all dead?”

Maz grinned at her, adjusting her glasses. “All your loose change is safe and sound, my dear.”

Rey chuckled breathily again before she realized she hadn’t seen Ben for a minute and turned to head slowly to look for him. He was right where he said he would be and he smiled at her. Rey smiled back before she turned back to the nurse.

“Dr. Ackbar is our hospitalist tonight and I’ve paged him. He should be here in a moment.” Rey nodded and the nurse patted her on the arm as the cuff on her arm released with a whoosh and her eyes went back to the monitor. “One seventeen over seventy-two, beautiful blood pressure. O2 is ninety-nine and heart rate is a fantastic seventy-five. Your vitals are wonderful my dear.”

Rey smiled at the nurse before she turned her head to find Ben again. Right where she left him. She turned back to Maz. “Thank you,” she said softly, glad that her ability to speak was getting better even if it was quiet.

“My pleasure, Mrs. Johnson. You and your husband have been some of the best patients and family I’ve had for the past week.”

_ Week? _

Rey nodded as the nurse left the room. Ben started to make his way to her, but the door swung open again and a man with large eyes made larger but thick-lensed coke-bottle glasses puttered in.

“Good evening, Mrs. Johnson. Feeling well enough to wake up, I see.”

Rey smiled a little. “Seemed like a good time.”

The man who she assumed was the doctor chuckled and moved toward her to start his assessment. “Well that was very kind of you.”

The assessment went on for a lot longer than she would have thought. He shined the penlight into her eyes like the nurse, had her squeeze his fingers in each of her hands, then moved to her feet to press the length of a pen into her big toe nail, making her hiss in pain.

Dr. Ackbar smiled broadly at her. “Good! Very good! Initial assessment is promising. It’s too soon to say that you’ll fully recover, but right now, your prognosis looks very good.”

Rey smiled at him again and she went to look for Ben, but the doctor was in front of him. Then Ben’s head popped out just passed the doctor’s shoulder and she smiled. “For tonight, Mrs. Johnson, I want to you rest. This is going to be the most important thing. The physical therapist won’t be in until first thing in the morning, and I’m going to let your primary doctor know the good news and he’s going to be in tomorrow as well. Sound good?”

Rey nodded. 

“Good. Rest well, Mrs. Johnson.” Dr. Ackbar looked behind him and smirked a little at Ben who was still trying to look around him. “You, too, Mr. Johnson.”

Ben grinned back. “Thank you,” Ben said.

Dr. Ackbar left and the nurse came back in. “Dr. Ackbar put in an order for some pain meds for you, my dear,” Maz said. “Let me see your wrist. Can you tell me your full name?”

“Rey Niima Johnson.”

Maz smiled at her. “Good.” She clicked the scanner and it gave a little beep. “This is lortab. It’s a narcotic, so it’s going to knock you out, okay?”

Rey frowned. “If it puts me to sleep...”

Maz smiled reassuringly at her. “Not that I can say, because I’m not a doctor, but I highly doubt you’ll go back into a coma. You seem very cognizant.”

Rey nodded. “Okay.” Maz nodded at her and moved to her with two cups, one very small and one styrofoam.

She poured the little cup into Rey’s hand and then held the cup with the straw hanging out for her. Rey took a sip, then slipped the pill into her mouth and swallowed. Maz beamed at her. “That’s good, my dear. Now you get some rest and Dr. Dameron will be in first thing in the morning, alright?”

Rey nodded. “Okay.”

Maz patted her shoulder before she turned her smile on Ben. “Try to make sure you’re out of the bed before the doctor comes in tomorrow, Mr. Johnson.”

Ben chuckled a little and nodded. “Thank you Nurse Kanata.”

“Such a polite boy,” she said and then she was gone.

Ben was immediately by her side, helping her to shift a little so he could climb in comfortably. Carful of her IV and, ugh, her catheter, and ECG leads, he wrapped his arms around her. Rey turned her head so she could look up into his amber eyes. “Hi,” she said softly.

Ben grinned at her. “Hello, Sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“For dying.”

Ben pressed his lips together and averted his eyes, but not before she saw the real fear in his eyes. “That was rather mean of you.”

She couldn’t help to smile. “I’m really sorry. I love you.”

His eyes came back to hers and he was smiling now, too. “I love you, too. Try not to do that again, please?”

Rey wrapped her fingers around his forearm and squeezed. “Absolutely never going to do that again. I promise. Trying to sacrifice myself was very stupid.”

Ben nodded. “Very, very stupid. Don’t be stupid.”

A smile tugged at her lips, but she had some serious questions first. “So. How long has it been?”

“Since the spell?” he asked and Rey nodded. “Three weeks. You were in the ICU for two of them and you’ve been in medsurg for a week.”

Rey nodded. “What about Snoke?”

Ben clenched his jaw and his eyes darkened. “Dead. Very, very dead.”

Rey nodded, thinking she remembered seeing Ben kill him, but wasn’t sure. “Good. And Rose?”

Ben’s thumb started a gentle caress against the exposed skin of her arm as he continued. “She was released a week after we got rid of Snoke. Since then she’s fully recovered. She’s been to visit you every day. She brings you cat pictures that she insists that you are going to need to adopt because cats purr at a frequency that promotes healing. I insisted that was unnecessary.”

Rey smirked at him. “You just don’t want another cat in the house.”

Ben smirked back. “Maybe”

Rey’s smile lasted just a few more moments before it fell and she felt tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Sweetheart,” Ben asked, freeing a hand and using his fingers to brush her tears away.

“I felt our bond break,” she said quietly, looking up at him.

Ben pinched his lips together. “Yes, that did happen. You did say you wanted me to be free when you died. And you died.”

Rey blinked rapidly as tears pooled in her waterline again and Ben once more, brushed away the ones that fell. “It hurt,” she whispered. “It still hurts. And...”

Ben brushed her hair out of her eyes. “And you’re afraid I’m going to leave now?”

Rey nibbled her lower lip and nodded jerkily.

  
Ben nodded. “I thought you might. It would never occur to you that you’re worth sticking around for even if there isn’t a bond.”

Rey blinked at that. “I am not.”

Ben raised a brow and gave her a little.

“Okay, maybe a little.”

“Mmhmm,” he intoned. “Well, the fact of the matter is, I am still bound to you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Rey almost jack-knifed up but Ben held her down. “What?!”

Ben had a slight smirk. “Because I love you?”

Rey blinked at him. “That’s all?”

Both of Ben’s eyebrows ended up in his hair and she heard his tail flicking around under his duster. “Excuse me? That’s  _ all? _ ”

Rey sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “I mean...”

Ben shook his head. “Never mind. I know enough about your past to understand where that question might come from.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes again, this time tucking it behind her ear. “The fact of the matter is, Rey, that when someone loves you, truly loves you, there is nothing that will ever make them part from you willingly. Every other person who has told you they loved you and then left, didn’t really love you. Not in the way that you need to be loved. That anyone needs to be loved.”

Rey tailed a pattern on Ben’s forearm. “Yeah?”

Ben nodded. “Yes.” He tilted her head back, holding her chin so that she looked straight into his eyes. “I will never willingly leave you. Do you understand?”

Rey pinched her lips together, staring into his eyes, looking for that sincerity and seeing it there before she nodded. “Okay. I do.”

Ben smiled. “It’s going to be really nice to hear you say that for our wedding vows,” he said softly.

Rey smirked at him. “Oh? Aren’t we already married?”

Ben rolled his eyes, and flapped his hands out at the nursing station. “Yes, that was for their benefit so they would let me stay. Rose was kind enough to verify my story. Getting married will be for our benefit.”

Rey was still smiling, moving her hand so she could touch his lips. “And what if I don’t want to get married?”

Ben’s lips smirked under her fingers and he pursed his lips to kiss them. “I find it unlikely that you don’t want to marry me.”

Rey giggled a little, dragging her fingers back and forth over his lower lip. “I dunno. Can I marry someone human-ish?”

Ben chuckled. “You know, that I still have magic right? Point of fact now that I’m not magically bound to you, I can essentially make anyone do what I want. Including making them miss the fact that I have a tail.”

“Is it wrong or kinky that I’m glad that’s still a thing.”

Ben turned his head into the pillow and guffawed. “We’ll come back to that.” He kissed her fingers again as they moved, and he even let his tongue slide out a bit to lick them, his eyes dilating a little. “The point is, I can very easily magic up some records about my birth and schooling and social security number so I can get a job and pay taxes.”

“Paying taxes is a good thing, actually. But for curiosity sake, if you have magic, why not just make some?”

Ben winced. “Ah. Well aside from being morally and ethically corrupt, I actually can’t make real money. I can make someone think they see a comma in a certain place, or think that they are holding a specific type of paper or metal, but it’s not real.

Rey smiled at him. “That makes sense. I don’t think it would sit right with me if you could do that anyway. Just seems wrong.”

Ben chuckled. “I just want a normal life with you, money or no.”

“Normal huh? What if I want a magical life with you?”

Ben smiled. “We can do that, too.”

“Good. Because a life with you is magic.”

Ben smiled and kissed her gently as she felt her eyes suddenly droop and she was pulled into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudos are amazing, comments give life, and MOAR always inspires~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)~!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben spend the rest of their lives together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it~! We did it~! We made it to the end~! It's been a head of a few months, and some super shitty stuff happening in the middle there. Thank you for sticking it out with me~!
> 
> CW/TW: Wedding stuff. Mostly just the dancing afterparty bit. 
> 
> Please enjoy~! ^_^

Rey's body swayed as she was led around the small, temporary dance floor. It shifted slightly on the uneven grass as her heels tapped against it with every step. She was about thirty seconds from kicking the torture devices off, but that would require her to stop moving with her husband long enough to take them off, and she wasn't ready for that. 

Ben's hands rested on the small of her back, his fingers playing with the decorative laces that hung there from the top of the fancy white dress she wore. She rested her head against his chest while his cheek rested against the top of her head. Around them other couples danced slow and sweet like they did, but it wasn't their wedding, so she cared less about their friends just at the moment than she normally would. She'd probably regret not caring as much about them later, but just then Ben's tail squeezed gently around her arm where she had it tucked under his coat. 

Rey smiled and slid her other arm under the coat so she could comb her fingers over the silky fur. Ben shivered, but otherwise gave no hint that her touch affected him. 

"You're doing that on purpose," he rumbled when she kept up her fondling. 

Rey smirked, letting up a little. "It's not my fault we have to hide your most sensitive appendage. You're the one with the random tail."

Ben chuckled as he brought a hand from her back to her hand and executed a flawless two-step. "That's not exactly my fault either." The hand still on her back slid down her ass and she gasped, quickly dragging it back up. "Besides, you don't mind my tail, do you sweetheart?" 

Rey giggled. "That is not conversation for polite company."

Ben snorted. "I wouldn't call any of your friends 'polite' company, considering how many discussions in our home revolve around anal play."

Rey buried her face into his chest and snickered. "I can't be held responsible for them. They are older than me."

Ben rolled his eyes. "By a few months, try again, my love."

Rey shivered as pleasant goosebumps ran down her arms. She loved it when he called her that. "Call me that again?" she asked. 

"Hmm? My love? I call you that all the time. A disparity compared to how often you call me Benji."

Rey poked him in the chest. "The  _ cat's _ name is Benji."

" _ I'm  _ the cat."

"You're not a cat right now," she shot back. "Now just give in."

Ben laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You first."

"I refuse." 

Ben laughed again, his tail once more squeezing gently on her wrist. "I love you, sweetheart."

Rey squinted up at him but she was grinning. "That's a cop-out."

Ben tilted his head so he could briefly kiss her lips. "Mmm, but it worked."

Rey smiled. "Shut up and dance, catboy."

Ben’s rumbling laugh reverted back into his signature purr and Rey smiled, settling against him to let the vibrations roll through her. Slowly, one by one, guests came by them on the dancefloor, mostly because Rey and Ben refused to be parted long enough to sit down. They all said their goodbyes to Ben and Rey’s nods and murmures of thanks and acceptance.

Finally, it was just down to the wedding party. Rose had already promised Rey that when they were ready she and Ben could just leave. It was tradition, Rose had said, from her experience as her sister's maid-of-honor. The bride and groom just  _ did not _ clean up after their own wedding. Rey hadn’t really wanted to agree at the time, but it had been a very long day, and she honestly just wanted to spend the rest of her time with Ben. She was going to want to spend the rest of her life like this, but she could give up one night to just be with him and let her friends take care of things for her.

There was a tap on Rey’s shoulder right then as she thought that, and she looked up to see Rose grinning at her. “What?” she asked.

The grin widened. “We got funding.”

Rey’s eyes went wide. “We did?!”

Rose did a little dance in place. “Yes! We’re gonna be a shelter!”

Ben quickly freed Rey from his arms and tail and she jumped on Rose in her excitement. Rose threw her own arms around Rey and they held each other tightly for the happiness of a new dream come true. It was one thing to be a rescue. It was another to be a fully operational no-kill cat shelter. They had worked so hard and long on this, and even got Ben to help, though he insisted that he only used enough magic to hide his tail. He just let their business model do the work while he spoke in business-talk to them. Rey thought charisma was a special magical power all on its own, and Ben had it in spades.

As Rey and Rose pulled apart from their tight hug, Rose gave Ben a look. "You're part of this, too, sir," she said, opening her arm to him. 

Ben smiled and wrapped an arm around each woman. "I just spoke in a language they understood," Ben said. "I'm just charming. You both are the ones who did the hard work."

Ben pressed a gentle kiss against Rose's cheek and Rose squeezed into their half hug, making Rey's heart happy. Ben and Rose were instant friends once Rey had gotten out of the hospital, having bonded over their love for Rey, and it just filled her up with so much happiness that the two most important people in her life were friends. 

Rose pulled away from Ben and wrapped her arms around Rey once more. "Go enjoy yourself," she told them. "There's going to be so much work when you get back."

Rey squeezed back and it was about that time that Rey looked around and saw that nearly everyone was gone. Rose smiled at her. 

"You were too busy being wrapped up in each other to notice everyone's left." She kissed Rey's cheek lightly. "Go home."

Rey grinned at her and squeezed her hand before turning back to Ben to get them both ready to go on their way. 

"Congratulations...."

A hand, cold and light, rested on her shoulder for a moment, giving her a chill that sent a tremor through her body for a moment. Just as quickly as the hand had settled, it was gone, and Rey whirled around to see who it had been. There was no one she could see until a flash of red against green called her attention at the garden gate.

Rey's eyes widened in no little fear and she grasped at Ben for an anchor. How had he gotten there so fast? Why was he here now?

"What is it, Sweetheart?" 

"Ben...tha...I told you what I experienced, the man I met? Before I came back?" Rey gestured at the ginger-haired man. 

Ben squeezed her hand and subtly tugged her back against him. Rey gulped and tried to melt into him, fearing the worst, but then the man turned, his red hair falling into smiling blue eyes. Rey blinked. 

"How...why...?"

She gestured all around her, uncertain why she was questioning it, even as a sense of ease and contentment settled over her and she relaxed against Ben, causing his own body to relax, matching the energy of hers. 

"Did you bring me back?" she whispered, somehow knowing he would hear her. 

He shook his head as he set his hand on the gate. 

"Did I?" 

Still smiling, he shrugged. 

Rey couldn't help to smile back as Ben wrapped his arms around her. "Then how?" 

The ginger gave the gate a push open to step out and leave while he grinned at her. 

"Magic."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are. The last note. I want to take this time to thank everyone one of you for sticking this out with me. I know it got a little rocky at the end here in the last few chapters. Life really needs to just chill sometimes, you know? This has been a labor of love that I didn't know I needed in my life, and it just makes me want to explore more in my writing, not only because I loved writing it, but because of all the encouragement you all gave me. You are just as important a part of this process as writing this fic, because given the way the end of the year went, ya'll are the reason this got finished. Thank you, so much from the bottom of my heart for seeing this through with me.
> 
> And for those who are only now reading this fic, WELCOME~! Thank you so much for holding out for this last chapter. I do hope you enjoyed reading through the whole thing at once. ^_^
> 
> As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors~! Kudos are amazing, comments give life, and MOAR always inspires~!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)~!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading~! I do hope you enjoyed it~! As always, please remember to feed and water your fic authors. Kudos are sublime, comments are euphoric, and MOAR always keeps us going~!
> 
> PS: Someone told me I shouldn't feel scared to include my twitter in the end comments...so I'm like...gonna do that. 😬😬😬😬😬
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnEighthDomain)


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